The district has been hard hit by rabies, registering 157 dog bites cases and four confirmed rabies deaths of female children under the age of ten years, between January and March 2026.

The situation has pushed the council authorities plead with the business community, development partners to come on board to reinforce commitment and efforts toward eliminating human rabies.

Handing over the vaccines on May 25, Chobe Holdings managing director, Mr Lempheditse Odumetse said the statistics of deaths and dog bites recorded underscored the urgent need for strengthened prevention and response measure hence coming on board.

Mr Odumetse said the donation formed part of the company’s commitment to advancing public health, protecting livelihoods and community wellbeing.

“Following the plea by the council, we found it fit to step up and support community health initiatives. We do appreciate that the district health teams have implemented awareness campaigns, case management and other interventions but the scale of the outbreak has placed significant pressure on available resources,” he added.

Mr Odumetse further noted that Rabies remained one of the deadliest yet preventable diseases.

He believed the support would assist in expanding vaccination efforts and strengthening the district response.

Mr Odumetse appealed to other business entities to follow suit with pledges to increase provision of vaccines and immunoglobulin to save lives.

Chairperson of Health Committee and also Councillor for Moeti ward, Mr Phenyo Moshongo appreciated the support saying it came at the right time when Rabies was a threat to both people and animals.

He appreciated that the vaccines would indeed strengthen their ability to combat the disease and protect lives.

North West Council Chairman, Mr Itumeleng Kelebetseng also thanked Chobe Holdings for their generous support saying it would make a huge difference.

In an interview, Deputy Council Secretary for Primary Health Care, Dr Sandra Maripe-Ebutswe appreciated that availability of rabies vaccines in health facilities had improved as they recently received a consignment of 600 doses from Central Medical Stores.

Dr Maripe-Ebutswe also highlighted that dog bites cases had increased from 136 to 157 since January this year.

She appreciated that since the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) carried out humane destruction of dogs roaming the streets the situation has improved significantly as there were no casualties recorded from April to date.

She also indicated that they were working closely with DVS as they were also vaccinating all pets citing that their target was to vaccinate 15 000 pets.

“We have so far vaccinated over 12 000 pets, thanks to the support of other organisations like Maun Animal Welfare Society which contributed to our success rate,” she added.

With regard to culling of dogs rooming the streets campaign, she said as  of May 15, 2026, about 250 dogs had been killed noting the campaign would continue until end of the year.

Dr Maripe-Ebutswe appealed to members of the community to keep their pets confined and report any bites immediately to any health facility. ENDS