The veterinary service has confirmed cases of rabies in the village of Cetireni and in the village of Hristoforovca in Pîrlița commune, and on Thursday, 22 October, the district crisis-management commission approved a plan of 16 measures for the two villages. It is the fifth outbreak plan approved in the Ungheni district since the end of July, after Rezina, Măgurele, Costuleni and Sculeni.
With the two new villages, the district commission’s decisions name six localities with confirmed rabies in three months, and therefore at least six cases. For the whole of 2025, the National Agency for Public Health reported four cases of rabies in animals in the Ungheni district.
In Cetireni and Hristoforovca, a census of all animals in households is carried out within five days, and the animals receive emergency immunisation. Collecting and selling animals on the territory of the village is banned until 30 days after the last case.
What changes in the two villages
The plan was approved by Decision No. 3/E of 22 October, following request No. 31-730 of the same day from the Territorial Subdivision for Food Safety for Ungheni/Nisporeni/Călărași, which confirmed the cases. The measures that directly affect households:
- An official census of all categories of animals in the farms and individual households of Cetireni and Hristoforovca, within five days.
- Emergency rabies immunisation of the animals, also within five days, carried out by the Territorial Subdivision.
- The movement of animals in the locality is halted for 30 days.
- Collecting and selling animals on the territory of the village is banned for 30 days after the last case of the disease. Responsible: the Territorial Subdivision, Cetireni Town Hall and Pîrlița Commune Town Hall.
- Animals that had direct contact with the source of infection remain under surveillance for 30 days.
- The hunting of foxes and jackals is stepped up in the hunting grounds of the two localities.
- The place where the sick animal was kept and its equipment are disinfected.
Oversight of the decision’s implementation lies with Tudor Orbu, head of the Territorial Subdivision for Food Safety for Ungheni/Nisporeni/Călărași. The restrictions are lifted 30 days after the last case of the disease, not 30 days after the decision: a new case in the village moves the deadline.
What the act does not say
The decision and the plan state neither the species of the infected animals nor how many cases were confirmed in each village. The act refers to “the cases of rabies in the villages of Cetireni and Hristoforovca,” in the plural.
The plan includes the standard measures for any outbreak: identifying the people who had contact with the source of infection and their treatment by the Ungheni Public Health Centre. The document contains no information about people bitten or exposed in the two villages.
Five decisions in three months
So far, the district commission has approved rabies outbreak plans in:
- Rezina (Mănoilești commune), Decision No. 10/E of 30 July;
- Măgurele, Decision No. 11/E of 6 August;
- Costuleni, Decision No. 1/E of 11 August, the first of the new crisis-management commission;
- Sculeni, Decision No. 2/E of 28 September, following request No. 31-646 of the same day from the Territorial Subdivision;
- Cetireni and Hristoforovca, Decision No. 3/E of 22 October.
The first two decisions were adopted by the district’s former Commission for Exceptional Situations. The last three bear the numbers 1/E, 2/E and 3/E of the commission set up under Law No. 248/2025 on crisis management, and all three concern rabies outbreaks.
The six localities are counted only from the decisions published by the commission. Each has at least one confirmed case, so there were at least six cases in 2026: one act can cover several, and the plan for Cetireni and Hristoforovca does not say how many there were. The comparison with 2025 sets the cases reported by ANSP for the whole year against this minimum, counted from the localities in the 2026 decisions. Nationally, ANSP reported 46 cases in animals in 2025, compared with 18 in 2024.
What to do if an animal bites you
Any bite, scratch or contact of a wound with an animal’s saliva means going to a doctor immediately. The plan approved for the two villages requires a person bitten by an animal to seek medical staff urgently, through their family doctor.
Rabies vaccination services, curative and preventive, are free, according to ANSP. An animal behaving unusually, domestic or wild, should be reported to a veterinarian or to the Territorial Subdivision for Food Safety.
Until 2 November, the National Food Safety Agency is laying vaccine baits against rabies for foxes. A bait that is found should be left in place or, if it lies where children or animals go, moved with gloves, and ANSA recommends that for two weeks dogs and cats should not roam freely in the areas where the baits have been laid.