KUCHING: Sarawak may introduce cat licensing as a measure to combat rabies, says Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian.
The Deputy Premier said this was in view of recent rabies deaths involving cat bites or scratches.
He told reporters this after opening the Rabies in Borneo conference here on Tuesday (Sept 30).
He said when the outbreak first started in 2017, the cases mainly involved stray dogs.
"But now, nearly 50% of positive animal cases involve pet dogs."
"And increasingly, people are also dying from cat scratches," he said.
Dr Sim said Sarawak was consulting experts for advice on rabies strategies for cats.
He said the state was also looking into licensing pet cats, but this would require changes to the law.
"Our law only specifies licensing dogs."
"It's not because we want to charge licensing fees for cats, but we want to have the data on the number of cats," he said.
According to the state Health Department’s records, two out of the four rabies deaths in Sarawak this year were due to cat bites or scratches.
Out of the total 80 rabies deaths since 2017, nine were due to cats.
Dr Sim reminded dog and cat owners to get their pets vaccinated against rabies.
For those bitten or scratched by animals, he said they should wash the wound with soap and running water for 10 minutes and seek immediate medical treatment.
"Rabies is preventable. No one should die from rabies," he said.
In his speech earlier, Dr Sim said Sarawak aimed to achieve zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
He said new strategies were being explored to improve monitoring, vaccination coverage and long-term disease control.
In line with this, he said the state government was collaborating with Universiti Putra Malaysia Sarawak to set up a School of Veterinary and Animal Science in Semenggok, here.
"Through this initiative, we aim to support national and global efforts in controlling zoonotic diseases and to uphold Sarawak’s free status from foot and mouth disease (FMD)," Dr Sim said.
He added that the first intake of students was scheduled to be enrolled in the veterinary school by next year, with 50% of them comprising Sarawakians.
