TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: Goa has registered the first case of human rabies death in the last five years, an official of Directorate of Health Services said.
“Pet dog owners have to make sure that their pets are vaccinated. The stray dogs have to be vaccinated by the Animal Husbandry Department. What happens is that sometimes if there is a dog bite and somebody delays vaccination or delays reporting to the hospital, then there can be some cases. This is what happened in the month of September. One patient was diagnosed with rabies and he succumbed to the disease,” National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) nodal officer Dr Prashant Suryawanshi told reporters.
The State had not reported human rabies cases since September 2017.
Dr Suryawanshi said of late the State has started cases in areas like Pernem, Bicholim, Dodamarg and Siolim.
“Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Department and Mission Rabies have started the vaccination programme,’’ he said.
After a fall in the canine rabies cases by over 90 per cent, the Goa government notified the State as a rabies controlled State in 2021. The State government has spent almost Rs five crore on the rabies control programme.
