Paraguay has begun vaccinating some 90,000 cats and dogs for rabies using Brazilian vaccines. The 100,000 vaccines were donated by the Ministry of Health through the Itaipu Binational Hydroelectric Company.
The vaccination campaign will take place in 24 municipalities located on the border with Brazil. Meanwhile, Brazil has begun a vaccination campaign on its side of the border.
This is the second consecutive year the two countries run a coordinated rabies vaccination campaign, which is part of a broader Health on the Border program.
Rabies was eliminated in Brazil in the 1970s, but continues to exist in Paraguay which never ran vaccination campaigns in the past.
The need for the joint campaign stems from the large flow of domestic animals across and around the Friendship Bridge, which joins the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu and the Paraguayan city of Ciudad del Este.
ABr