Johannesburg - There have been five confirmed rabies cases in jackals and a dog in Muldersdrift, Kromdraai and Lanseria in the past month, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said on Tuesday.
At least two cases of rabies exposure in humans were reported. Both people received medical treatment and neither became infected with the disease.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will be providing free rabies vaccinations in the area beginning on Monday, said Lucille Blumberg, deputy director of the NICD.
"We want to alert people so they ensure their own animals are vaccinated," Blumberg said. "I think a lot of people in Gauteng don't vaccinate their dogs and cats because there is a perception that there isn't rabies around, although there is from time to time."
The five infected animals were put down for safety reasons.
Blumberg said the institute works closely with the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Department of Health spokesman Vuyo Sabani deferred comment to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Andile Gumede, spokesman for the department, said it would be vaccinating from June 13 to 15 at various locations in Muldersdrift, Lanseria and Zandspruit informal settlement, and at the Lion Park and Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve.
He said the campaign will be run in conjunction with the Provincial and Municipal Departments of Health, the NICD and private veterinarians.
Dietana Nemudzivhadi, director for animal health in Gauteng Provincial Veterinary Services, said her department did a preliminary round of vaccinations of 94 dogs. She said they will be assisting with next week's vaccination programme.
"We want to make sure we have wide coverage, because remember, rabies is an easily preventable disease if the dog and cat population is vaccinated," she said.
Independent groups will also be providing rabies vaccination in the area, including community sterilisation group Balls an' All, which helps subsidise sterilisations for pets whose owners can't afford the procedure.
In a Facebook post, the group said they were called upon by the state vet to assist with inoculation. "We don't generally focus on rabies vaccination, but we were asked to help out with this," said Mareli Macfarlane, Balls an' All secretary.
"We will be doing it until the situation is properly under control."
A Facebook post by the group claimed that "nearly 200 dogs" had been put down as a result of the outbreak. Nemudzivhadi said the only animals put down are those confirmed to have rabies. She said Veterinary Services works "hand-in-hand" with local organisations. "We do not necessarily work on our own," Nemudzivhadi said. "We work with organisations that are on the ground."
A similar, although substantially larger, outbreak occurred in 2009, when a domestic dog with rabies infected 47 dogs in southwestern Joburg, Blumberg said. She said there was also a human victim, a young child in Soweto.
"While jackals play an important role in the ecosystem, jackal rabies is well documented in South Africa. Periodic increases in cases are reported and in the past year jackal rabies has been reported from North West and KwaZulu-Natal provinces," the institute said.
It advised pet owners to adequately vaccinate their dogs and cats for rabies in the first year of life, and then at least every three years. Blumberg said although all animals can transmit rabies, jackals, mongooses, dogs and cats are particularly at risk for infection. Rabies is fatal unless treatment is immediately given to the infected person. The institute warned people to refrain from approaching or handling jackals.
*This story had been updated with extra information. - IOL