Thursday, June 15, 2006
1 dead, 23 feared infected after eating rabid dogs
By Kathy Villalon Cinco
ONE man died and 23 others are under observation after eating rabid dogs in Maasin, Iloilo.
Rolando Carmelita, Jr. died after he cooked and ate a rabid dog. He also fed the said meal to his relatives. Not contented, they cooked and ate two more rabid dogs.
Carmelita was found to be infected with rabies.
The Rural Health of Maasin is now appealing to the provincial government for its support.
Rabies remains a public health problem in the Philippines. Approximately 300-600 Filipinos die of rabies every year. Our country ranked third worldwide in rabies incidence in 2004. Western Visayas is among the top three regions with the highest incidence of rabies with 279 cases, while Iloilo Province topped the list having the highest number of rabies cases in the provincial level.
In 2005, although the region was able to decrease the canine rabies by 11 percent, an alarming situation was still palpable. In fact, it had the highest human rabies cases or deaths due to rabies in the whole country with 39 human deaths as compared to the 33 deaths recorded in the Bicol region.
This means a total of P53,950,015 was spent to provide active and passive post exposure treatments to human dog-bite victims. Last year, the region spent P9,724,800 for canine rabies vaccine purchases.
Rabies is an acute, contagious infection of the central nervous system, caused by a specific virus that enters the body through the bite of an animal. All warm-blooded animals are susceptible, but the disease is most common in dogs, and cats. Most of the cases of rabies in humans are caused by the bite of one of these animals. Dog remains the principal reservoir of rabies in the country while canine species followed closely.
The most cost effective measures against rabies are through vaccination of dogs and education of dog owners and the public on responsible pet ownership.
(June 15, 2006 issue)
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