The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on Thursday, February 15, announced that it was embarking on mass vaccination of dogs within Kiambu and Kajiado counties.
In a statement, KWS stated that the exercise to be conducted in conjunction with the respective county governments has been necessitated after tests showed that hyenas roaming in the two regions are infected with rabies.
The government agency revealed that several samples taken from hyenas captured in Juja tested positive for rabies.
“The test results confirming the case to be positive for rabies were received on February 13,” KWS informed members of the public.
“Confirmation of rabies in the hyenas explains the unusual aggressive behaviour towards people that was witnessed in Juja and Kajiado.”
Additionally, samples from two other hyenas captured in Ongata Rongai and Eselenkei, both in Kajiado County, tested positive for the rabies infection.
The tests were done at the National Veterinary Reference Laboratories (NVRL), Kabete.
As such, residents in the mentioned areas were advised to exercise caution as the KWS continues to search for long-term solutions.
KWS attributed the need to conduct mass vaccination to studies showing that dogs transmit up to 98per cent of human rabies in East Africa.
As plans to roll out the mass vaccination hit high gear, KWS has dispatched a team from its Veterinary and Capture Service to capture hyenas strolling in the two counties.
The team will be assisted by the Problem Animal Management Unit.
On February 5, Multimedia University students staged protests after their colleague was bitten by a rabies-infected hyena.
