Five confirmed rabies cases in seals, says City

There are now five confirmed cases of rabies in Cape fur seals, with the earliest of the current cases being that of a seal in October last year, says the City.

A City statement on Monday said an intergovernmental committee, with representatives from the City; the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment; the provincial government; South African National Parks; and the Cape of Good Hope SPCA, was working to grasp the scale and extent of rabies prevalence in the Cape fur seal population.

Previously, Sentinel reported that there were concerns that the public were not heeding the call to stay away from seals despite the rabies scare after reports of seal petting at Hout Bay Harbour (“Rabies scare fails to keep public away from seals,” June 21).

While the rabies cases were detected in seals in Cape Town, the public should exercise caution on all coastlines where Cape fur seals were found, the City said.

"Rabies vaccination is not advised in the general public, but anyone bitten by a seal must seek immediate medical assistance and get post exposure prophylaxis. All responses to seals that come ashore and meet the case definition for rabies will be undertaken by trained staff in uniform from permitted institutions using appropriate equipment with due consideration of public safety and animal welfare,“ the City said.

Provincial health department spokeswoman Natalie Watlington told the Sentinel that there were no confirmed human rabies infections in the province.