THE Sarawak disaster management committee will meet on Tuesday to assess why its rabies containment measures failed, as five more areas were declared rabies-infected yesterday.

The inclusion of Sibu, Bintangor, Sarikei, Kapit, and Miri means every administrative division, with the exception of Limbang which is insulated by Brunei, has rabies-infected areas.

Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas, who chairs the committee, said there was a need to assess the policies in place in view of rabid dogs detected in most areas of the state.

“The rabid dogs were detected by random sampling, and now we want to know how they managed to get past the containment areas,” Uggah said after joining Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub in a dialogue with farmers, livestock breeders, and fishermen in Kuching this afternoon.

Uggah said he believed a dog adoption programme could be a possible cause of the containment breach.

“We also have a long, porous border with Kalimantan,” he said, in reference to infected dogs crossing the border with their masters, who are workers in plantations straddling the border or near it.

The meeting, he said, will therefore review the steps they have taken and explore new ones.

He said eradicating the disease could take years.

“It’s a lesson we have learnt from other countries that had it,” Uggah said.

Animal rights groups, like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and professional bodies like the Malaysian Medical Council were also invited to the meeting.

Under Section 37 (2) and (3) of the state’s Public Health Ordinance 1999, it is an offence to let pet dogs to roam freely and no dogs may be moved out of areas declared rabies-infected.

It is an offence that carries a RM5,000 fine, or a jail sentence of not more than three months.

The rabies outbreak has killed 12 people so far. – September 28, 2018.