New Book Educates Students About Spread of Rabies

A new children’s book, Uapikun Learns About Rabies, will raise awareness of an infectious disease often spread by the bite of an infected animal. The book tells the story of how an Innu girl (Uapikun) learns about rabies while travelling into the country with her family.

“Rabies education is important and most effective when done as part of a campaign that incorporates all the people and institutions involved in rabies prevention,” said the Honourable Tom Marshall, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister Responsible for the Forestry and Agrifoods Agency. “This book is a great way to inform the public about rabies, which appears in the fox population of Labrador in cycles with the most recent cycle being in the spring of 2012.”

Uapikun Learns About Rabies may be used as a teaching resource to support Grade 5 health specific curriculum outcomes. It will also be displayed at an international rabies conference being held in Toronto in October where copies will be donated as part of a fundraiser. There are plans to adapt the book to the Labrador Inuit culture and have it translated into Inukitut, and there is interest in producing Inuktitut versions for northern Quebec and Nunavut, as well as Cree versions for northern Ontario.

“We have been engaged in rabies education, prevention, and control for many years,” said Dr. Hugh Whitney, Chief Veterinary Officer. “After a World Rabies Day event at the Sheshatshiu Innu School in 2012, it was decided the production of a more permanent resource was appropriate. Fortunately, an excellent educational series already existed, entitled The Adventures of Uapikun. This new story becomes the fifth in this series and includes a drawing by one of the school children from Sheshatshiu.”

The book was produced by the Provincial Government in collaboration with the Sheshatshiu Innu School and the Innu Language Project (Memorial University), designed by Vivid Communications, and endorsed by The Global Alliance for Rabies Control. It is printed in English and two Innu-aimun dialects (Sheshatshiu and Mushuau), with a French version (co-produced with the University of Montréal) in the final stages.

World Rabies Day is Saturday, September 28 and is highlighted at www.worldrabiesday.org . Information on rabies can be found on the Provincial Government website at www.nr.gov.nl.ca/rabies . 

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Media contact:
Diana Quinton
Director of Communications
Department of Natural Resources
709-729-5282, 631-8155
dianaquinton@gov.nl.ca 

2013 09 27                                     4:05 p.m.