Bongo Vet Officer Seeks Common Fund Support as Rabies Deaths Rise

A veterinary official in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region has asked the government to set aside part of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for rabies prevention, after the district recorded five deaths linked to the disease.

Hamidu Sadat, the Bongo District Veterinary Officer, said the money would allow the Veterinary Services Department to run free mass vaccination of dogs and slow the spread of rabies, as reported by Citi News.

According to the figures cited, the Upper East Region recorded 36 rabies-related deaths between June 2025 and September 2026. Bongo's five deaths were the most of any district in the region.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, Mr Sadat partly blamed the situation on dogs entering the district from Burkina Faso through unapproved routes, without proper checks on whether they have been vaccinated.

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He explained that some dogs bought at the Yelwongo market in Burkina Faso break free while being transported. These animals then become strays, which he said raises the risk of the disease being passed on.

Mr Sadat also pointed to the cost of treatment for people bitten by dogs. He said anti-rabies vaccines cost an estimated GH¢1,000, a price he said discourages victims from going for treatment. According to him, some turn instead to traditional remedies, and by the time they seek help the disease has become hard to manage.

"They don't report the dog bite because they will be told to take the vaccine, which is very expensive; it's about GHS1,000.00," he said.

The veterinary officer said the shortage of vaccines for animals was also a problem. During the district's most recent vaccination exercise, he said, only 120 doses of anti-rabies vaccine for dogs were received, even though the district's dog population is estimated at between 3,000 and 4,000.

He added that irregular supplies had affected a government-backed programme which had previously given dog-bite victims vaccines free of charge.

Mr Sadat is calling for enough vaccines to be supplied, for dog vaccination campaigns to be sustained, and for tighter monitoring of animals brought into the country through border communities, in order to prevent more deaths.