The Antipolo City local government launched a series of anti-rabies vaccinations on Monday, May 22, in its bid to protect its residents and their fur babies against the dreaded virus that ranks among the primary causes of death, not just in the country, but around the world. In its advisory, the city government conducted its free anti-rabies vaccination in Barangay San Luis and released the schedule of its anti-rabies caravan for the month of May. May 22, 2023 - UPEHCO (open space), Steel Homes (open basketball court) May 23, 2023 - Prima Vera (clubhouse) May 24, 2023 - Antipolo Hills (covered court) May 25, 2023 - Phase 2B - Upper (covered court), Phase 2B - Lower (open space) May 26, 2023 - Padilla, Kaybagsik (open space) May 29, 2023 - Sambaville 1 (covered court), Sambaville 2 (open space) May 30, 2023 - Katipunan, Manggahan (open space) May 31, 2023 - Annex 3B (open space), Peace Village I (covered court) In January, Antipolo City Mayor Jun Ynares announced that the city is now using a new system for the detection of rabies cases in the city. On Jan. 20, a seminar was conducted by the City Veterinary Office and City Health regarding the use of the Rabies Rapid Response with Rabies Data Share System (RaDSS) developed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Department of Agriculture - Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI) for its project dubbed as "Establishment of the One Health Prevention and Treatment Network Model for the Elimination of Rabies in the Philippines" also known as the "Japan and Philippines One Health Rabies" (JAPOHR) Project. Aside from the development of RaDSS, the agencies also introduced Immunochromatographic Test Kit (ICT Kit) for rabies which supports easy, fast, and accurate diagnosis of the disease. According to JICA, rabies diagnosis takes about 2-3 hours with the use of a microscope and an incubator in normal circumstances. With the new ICT kits, diagnosis is radically sped up to 20-30 minutes, thus accelerating detection and the start of treatment. Ynares said the RaDSS features real-time data sharing, rabies contact tracing, streamlined response case investigation, and containment procedures which further streamline the rabies detection and treatment capabilities of the city. The Anti-Rabies Law of 2007 established the National Rabies Prevention and Control Program (NRPCP) to control, prevent the spread of, and eventually eradicate human and animal rabies, and to promote responsible pet ownership. Department of Health (DOH) records show that rabies infections in the country, mostly due to unvaccinated dogs, have a case fatality rate of 100 percent. The World Health Organization (WHO) also considers rabies an extremely deadly disease, saying that “once clinical symptoms appear in humans, rabies is virtually 100 percent fatal.”