A DAVAO regional health official has reported a "tremendous" increase in rabies cases in the region.
Mary Divene Hilario, rabies program coordinator of the Department of Health (DOH) in Region 11, told reporters Monday there were 33,199 animal bite cases last year, up from 20,684 cases in 2013.
Rabies deaths rose to 22 from 16 during the same period, Hilario said.
Hilario provided the statistics in line with the celebration of the Rabies Awareness Month this March.
All of the deaths were males less than 15 years who did not seek medical help.
"Last 2013, we ranked seven with the highest incidence rate for rabies but for this 2014 wala pa nigawas ang ranking (the ranking was not yet released)," she said.
Hilario said Davao Region exceeded the DOH central office target for rabies cases of 1.5 percent per population.
"It is alarming because we know that rabies is 100 percent deadly," she said.
DOH Rabies Program Medical Coordinator Dr. Gracita Berguia said the increase in the rabies cases can be attributed to the awareness of people, improvement in health seeking behaviors and the increase in the number of animal bite centers in the region.
Ninety percent of the animal bite victims last 2014 sought vaccination compared to the 88 percent in 2013.
Hilario said DOH expects to eliminate rabies in the country by next year, much earlier than its initial target of 2020.
She said the DOH central office gave P69 million to the Department of Agriculture to buy additional vaccines for dogs this year.
While rabies cases rose, dengue cases in the region went down, from 875 in February 28, 2014 to 717 a year later.
Deaths from dengue dropped to three this year from six last year. Most of the victims 15 years old or younger, and all three deaths were from Davao Oriental.
A total of 340 dengue cases were recorded in Davao City, with highest figures from Talomo North with 71 and Buhangin with 64.