Mission Rabies Tanzania – Day 8, The Second Half of the Vaccination Drive Begins! Pt11

Today could only be described as exhilarating.   We started this first day of our second week with what we thought would be a quick trip to the medical clinic to get my second post-exposure rabies vaccine (I got scratched by a kitten last week).  Well, today is Saturday, and the doctor doesn’t arrive until 9:00.  We couldn’t wait that…

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Mission Rabies Tanzania – Tarangire and Ngorongoro Safari Weekend! Pt10

Last night I packed my bags for the big safari.  A towel, some soap and shampoo, contact lens stuff, insect spray, sunscreen, a change of clothes, and my Fujifilm camera (plus extra battery).  Headed off to breakfast with my similarly excited colleagues, and then we went out to the parking lot to the safari vehicles, which were already waiting.  Nine…

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Mission Rabies Tanzania – Day 7, First Week Completed! Pt9

Today marked the last day of the first week of our Mission Rabies Tanzania project.  Our assignment today was to go back to an area up in the mountains called Nkoarisambu.  A Mission Rabies team had already been there, but the post-vaccine survey revealed that we’d fallen shy of the 70% needed to break the cycle and stop the spread…

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Mission Rabies Tanzania – Day 6, Door to Door in Arusha. Pt8

Today was my kind of day.  We drove around the Moivaro area, announcing through the loudspeaker that we were in the area, vaccinating dogs and cats for free.  Then we parked in a residential area and went door to door, meeting people at their homes to vaccinate their pets.  This allows us to walk through all the pathways and trails…

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Mission Rabies Tanzania – Day 5, Roaming Arusha. Pt7

The first two days of this Mission Rabies vaccination drive, we worked “static clinics”.  We drive to a place, set up our makeshift clinic, and people bring us their dogs.  Today, we did “roaming clinics”.  We drive through an assigned area announcing that we’re offering free rabies vaccinations to dogs and cats.  When we see someone with a dog, we…

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Mission Rabies Tanzania – Day 3, Let the Vaccinations Begin! Pt5

Today is Mission Rabies Tanzania Workday 1, the first day we hit the road and start vaccinating.   Didn’t sleep great last night. Still getting used to it being so quiet.  I’m up early now, so I’ll start this blog post now and finish it tonight.  Last night I packed my backpack with all of the items I think I’ll need…

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Mission Rabies Tanzania – Day 2, Orientation and Relaxation. Pt4

Mediocre night sleeping last night. It takes a little time to get used to a new bed, plus I’ve been drinking tons of water all day to ward off any potential kidney stones; this is something that I’m prone to in hot climates. I guess it’s working, because I got up to pee twice. After the second time I got…

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Thinking About Hal

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a movie on Netflix that was “trending”.  The film, Mank,  was about Herman J. Mankiewicz, the screenwriter of the movie Citizen Kane.  The movie went into great detail about the writing of the screenplay, and it depicted the studio heads, actors and politics of the time.  I enjoyed the film, but all  I…

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Mission Rabies Tanzania: The Adventure Begins. Pt2

Mike arrived in New York last night.  His plane landed at Newark, and he took the train to Penn Station, and then walked to my apartment.  He had a memorable flight, mainly because a passenger on his flight fainted in the aisle.  Oh, I should mention that the passenger was … him!  Apparently, a crappy night’s sleep, a very early…

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Mission Rabies

Mission Rabies Tanzania: The Adventure Begins. Pt1

So, after what seems like an interminable wait, the Mission Rabies Tanzania journey begins.  My college buddy, Mike Rosen, is joining me on this trip, and he arrives here in New York in about 8 hours.  He’ll stay overnight, and then we both depart from JFK airport tomorrow evening.  In these times of Covid-19, planning this trip has been a…

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Mission Rabies

Countdown to Mission Rabies Tanzania 2021

Regular readers of my blog know that even though I retired from veterinary practice three years ago, I’ve remained active in the veterinary community.  I still author the bimonthly “The Vet Is In” column for Catster magazine, and I still pop into Dr. Soboroff’s practice, New York Cat Hospital, every now and then to visit him and Dr. Sheheri and…

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