Rabies, canine, human - Philippines

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See my response in the following e-mail.

 

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RABIES, CANINE, HUMAN - PHILIPPINES (CATANDUANES)

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International Society for Infectious Diseases

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Thu 21 Jan 2010

Source: The Catanduanes Tribune [edited]

<http://www.catanduanestribune.com/Jan-20-2010/TopStory/Detail.aspx?newsID=6417>

 

 

The provincial government's campaign to have [the province of]

Catanduanes declared rabies-free by 2012 suffered a serious setback

when a Virac resident died of rabies 2 months after being bitten by a

dog. The Animal Bite Center based at the Eastern Bicol Medical Center

identified the fatality as a 23 year old man, single and a resident

of Bigaa barangay [district].

 

According to the senior nurse, the victim was brought to the

provincial hospital in the morning of 10 Jan 2010 after beginning to

show symptoms of rabies on the afternoon of 9 Jan 2010. Despite his

condition, he managed to tell hospital personnel that he had been

bitten by a dog sometime in the last week of November [2009]. He said

he was trying to shoo away the dog, which was chasing their chickens,

when the animal jumped on him and bit him on the left cheek before

running away towards the nearby mountains. He added that he did not

seek medical attention at the bite center or consult any physician

regarding the wound.

 

The patient died the following morning. Unknown to him, the dog did

not escape to the mountains but was instead caught and slaughtered by

residents, who cooked the meat as " pulutan " [a cooked meal] during a

drinking session that same day. Upon learning of Panti's death, 12

people presented themselves at the EBMC Animal Bite Center for

anti-rabies injections. [Presumably because they may have had contact

with saliva of the rabid dog or been injured. Rabies cannot be

contracted by consumption of cooked meat from a rabid animal. -

Mod.CP]

 

The fatality, the 1st in 2010, came after Catanduanes registered zero

deaths from rabies in 2009, although there were 4 confirmed animal

rabies cases. Under the current national anti-rabies campaign, a

province will be declared rabies-free by 2012 if it registers no

fatalities from rabies beginning in 2010.

 

The development also came as the Provincial Rabies Coordinating

Committee began meeting with local government units to encourage them

to achieve a 100 percent vaccination rate among dogs in their

localities in the 1st 3 months of the year. As of 10 Dec 2009, the

committee reported that only 8384 (52 per cent) of the estimated 16

275 dogs in the province had been vaccinated, while only 6240 dog

leashes, collars and tags have been distributed throughout the 11

towns. Of the 11 towns, only Panganiban (76 per cent), Bagamanoc (74

per cent) and Gigmoto (72 per cent) registered accomplishments higher

than 70 per cent, while Virac and San Miguel scored 25 per cent and

15 per cent, respectively. Lack of political will, compounded by the

unwillingness of dog owners, particularly in rural areas, and lack

of funds for the hiring of vaccinators, have been blamed for the

campaign's failure to achieve 100 per cent vaccination in 2009.

 

The Department of Health says that rabies, which is acute

encephalitis with a fatal outcome and no effective cure, has been

responsible for 250 to 290 deaths each year, nearly 60 per cent of

them children below 15 years old. For the past years, human rabies

cases in the Philippines have been consistently among the top 5 in

the world.

 

Based on the 1:10 ratio, there are about 8 million dogs nationwide.

Data from the Department of Health National Rabies Prevention and

Control Program show that 98 per cent of human rabies cases are

attributed to dog bites, 1.3 for cats and less than one per cent for

other animals. Among the dog bites, almost 90 per cent of the victims

are bitten by their pet dogs, and the rest are stray dogs. The

majority of these cases happen during the summer months, because

school-age children are on vacation and usually play outside the

house.

 

--

communicated by:

ProMED-mail <promed

 

[This is a particularly lucid account of the problems encountered

even in well organised efforts to eradicate canine rabies from an

island community. Nonetheless, the situation in the Philippines

island of Catanduanes contrasts favourably with the current situation

in the Indonesian island of Bali (see numerous recent reports in

ProMED-mail). It is tragic, however, that the most vulnerable group

in Catanduanes has been children under the age of 15 years.

 

Catanduanes is one of the the 7107 islands that comprise the

Philippines. A map of the province of Catanduanes showing the town of

Virac in the south of the island can be accessed at

<http://www.globalpinoy.com/images/newtravel/maps/catanduanes_map_bg.jpg>.

The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of the Philippines is

available at <http://healthmap.org/r/0138>. - Mod.CP]

 

[see also:

2007

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Rabies, human, canine - Philippines (La Union) 20070918.3092

Rabies, human - Philippines (Iloilo) 20070209.0506

2006

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Rabies, human - Japan (Kanagawa) ex Philippines 20061122.3322

Rabies, human - Japan (Kyoto) ex Philippines 20061118.3303

2004

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Rabies, human - Philippines (Iloilo) 20040822.2331

Rabies, human - Philippines (Mindanao) 20040808.2182

2001

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Rabies, human, suspected - UK ex Philippines 20010611.1139

Rabies - Philippines: background 20010519.0977

Rabies, human - UK ex Philippines (03) 20010515.0945

Rabies, human - UK ex Philippines (02) 20010513.0922

Rabies, human - UK ex Philippines 20010510.0907

2000

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Rabies - Philippines (Bicol) 20000517.0775

1999

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Rabies, canine, human - Philippines (Tarlac) (03) 19991201.2112

Rabies, canine, human - Philippines (Tarlac) 19991117.2045

Rabies, human - China (Hong Kong) ex Philippines 19990717.1201

Rabies, canine - Philippines (05) 19990616.1025

Rabies, canine - Philippines 19990608.0973]

 

.....................cp/msp/sh

 

 

 

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