(CN) Beijing vaccinates 700,000 dogs against rabies

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Beijing vaccinates 700,000 dogs against rabies

2008-05-02

 

BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Beijing is vaccinating about 700,000 dogs

registered in the city in a bid to prevent rabies.

 

The annual anti-rabies inoculation, which started Thursday and will last

till June 30, is free of charge, said Yu Hongyuan, deputy director of the

Beijing Municipal Bureau of Public Security.

 

To control the rising number of dogs, especially stray dogs, local

authorities encouraged dog owners to have their animals sterilized, Yu said,

adding that they will get 200 yuan (28.6 U.S. dollars) in reward if they are

willing to do so.

 

Rabies is an acute viral infection that is nearly always fatal if left

untreated. It can be transmitted by the bite of an infected animal, usually a

dog. It kills about 50,000 globally each year.

 

Beijing has reported few incidents of rabies. From 1994 to 2004,no cases of

rabies had occurred in the Chinese capital. Since August 2005, there have been

six deaths from the disease, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau.

 

In early March, the bureau announced the first human death from rabies this

year in Beijing. The victim, a 48-year-old man surnamed Liu, was from northern

Hebei Province and worked as a stoker at a company in southern Beijing's Daxing

District.

 

Two months ago, a stray dog bit his left hand, but he was not vaccinated

against the rabies virus, nor did he go to a clinic for treatment. He just

cleaned the wound with water himself.

 

Symptoms of the disease appeared on Feb. 24 and Liu died four days later.

 

Editor: Pliny Han

 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/02/content_8090897.htm