Tanzania starts local manufacturing of vaccines against Anthrax, Rabies and Newcastle diseases.

Tanzania is in the process of coming up and mass producing its own rabid vaccine, which will be soon produced locally.

Speaking in Arusha Dr Richard Francis Temu, a research expert from the Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA), said the locally produced antiserums will be more affordable compared to the imported ones.

“Of late there has been an increase in the cases of rabies infections as more stray dogs continue to attack and bite people, especially children with the treatments getting costlier,” pointed out Dr Temu.

He said the Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA), was in the final process of the rabid vaccines manufacturing and soon the first batch will be rolling out of the production line.

“All dog owners will now be able to buy and administer the vaccine to their canines,” explained Dr Temu

So far, the agency has managed to produce and distribute several other vaccines against Anthrax (TECOBLAX), the Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) which affects cattle and buffaloes, Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP), Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine and Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

The agency is also working on the production of vaccines against Newcastle Disease affecting poultry (TEMEVAC), which will come in tablet format, unlike the current droplets.

“We are also intending to start raising awareness among farmers who, of late, have been misusing medication by forcing antibiotics onto especially chicken, causing them to develop resistance,” said the veterinary expert, adding that the agency so far churn out nine different types of vaccines for livestock.

TVLA is also conducting a series of research programs on diseases and infections affecting livestock in the country in order to intercept infections before they occur and cause serious damages.

The agency is on the other hand working to inspect and test all imported vaccines and livestock medications being imported in the country.

When it comes to Rabies, this fatal zoonotic neurological disease is caused by the Lyssavirus genus, which are RNA viruses in the family Rhabdoviridae that infect mammals worldwide.

 Annually, it accounts for an estimated 60,000 human deaths worldwide, with over 98 percent of these fatalities linked to canine rabies.

In northern Tanzania, experts found that at least 20 percent of rabies exposures and deaths were not recorded in official sources, highlighting significant underreporting.

While dogs, both stray and domesticated, cause rabies in urban areas, wildlife species like jackals have also been linked to rabies transmissions.

It is being predicted that the dog population in Tanzania is around 2,316,000, with the average human to dog ratio of 20.7:1