The Standing Committee for Rabies Control, established in January this year, Parana, held this week for the first joint meeting of the monitoring of cases of human and animal rabies. Group seeks to strengthen the role of the Department of Health to prevent the occurrence of new cases in the state.

There's long been said that anger is controlled in Parana, however there are still records of cases in herbivorous animals. The risk of return to have human cases is increasing and we must intensify the actions of health surveillance to prevent a possible epidemic, said Superintendent of Health Surveillance, Sezifredo Peace

According to the head of Environmental Monitoring, Ivana Belmonte, there are weaknesses in the process of reporting and analysis of suspected cases. This year we will invest more in training and focus on the importance of collecting samples from animals suspected of having rabies, or neurological symptoms, he said.

According to the secretary informed the committee was installed in a critical period in relation to rabies control. The state conducts annual campaigns to vaccinate dogs and cats in counties bordering Paraguay (risk area according to the Ministry of Health). However, blocking the actions carried out when there is suspicion of animal rabies in some municipalities, were committed to the decision of the Ministry of Health to suspend the shipment of vaccines for such an emergency measure.

Also according to the secretary, in 2009, TECPAR, leading supplier of vaccines against rabies in Brazil, had to adapt their production process to the new rules imposed by the Ministry of Health, hampering the deployment of vaccines for the entire country. The reality is global, there is not a vendor that meets all the demand in Brazil, said Ivana.

The meetings take place every two months and will be coordinated by the Department of Environmental Surveillance Department of Health

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