Rabies, CAnine, Human - Angola (07) : (Uige) - 83 Children die in Luanda, Angola from Rabies

RABIES, CANINE, HUMAN - ANGOLA (07): (UIGE)
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A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases


Date: Thu 4 Jun 2009
Source: ANGOP [in Portuguese, trans. & summ. Mod.TY, edited]


Of 830 people bitten by dogs in the city of Uige from January to 4 Jun
of this year [2009], 6 died, the supervisor of the municipal Expanded
Program of Vaccination, Pedro Guilherme Fernando, reported today,
Thursday [4 Jun 2009]. He asked the population to go urgently to the
nearest health unit as soon as one is bitten.

Communicated by:
ProMED-PORT


[Apparently, a significant rabies outbreak, with human fatalities,
continues in Angola. In the 1st 3 months of this year (2009), 93
children died of rabies in the capital, Luanda (see ProMED archive no.
20090314.1051). Now cases are occurring in the nearby province of
Uige. Failure to obtain timely post-exposure treatment may be due, in
part, to scarcity of the vaccine and anti-rabies immunoglobulin and
their relatively high cost. The most effective measure to prevent
human cases such as these is to maintain the canine population rabies
virus immune through a continuous vaccination program.

A map showing the location of Uige city in Uige province in northwest
Angola can be accessed at

The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Angola can be accessed at
.
- Mod.TY]

Rabies - China (02) : (Shaanxi) - human deaths reported

RABIES - CHINA (02): (SHAANXI)
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A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases


Date: Mon 1 Jun 2009
Source: China View [edited]


Rabies has killed 8 people and left 2 people suspected of being
infected in hospital in Shaanxi Province since March 2009, the local
government said Monday [1 Jun 2009]. The outbreak of rabies has
spread to 11 counties in Hanzhong City since March, where 5523 people
were injured by dogs, said Qin Mingxian, director with the city's
agricultural bureau. The 1st death occurred on 21 Mar [2009], and the
2 people suspected of being infected were being treated in a
county-level hospital, he said at a press conference.

The city, with more than 370 000 registered dogs, reported 35
[human?] deaths of the disease from 1985 to 1992. The outbreak was
spreading at unprecedented speed, said Qin.

The city carried out a rabies prevention campaign from 23 May - 1 Jun
[2009], implementing door-to-door compulsory vaccinations of dogs and
urging dog owners to put their pets on a leash or keep them off the
streets. So far, more than 240 000 pet dogs had been vaccinated.

Human deaths indicated the rabies virus was very active, posing a
great public health threat, said Shi Ruihua, chief of the bureau's
stock breeding department. The city authorities would work out
measures to improve administration of pet dogs, he said.

[Byline: Deng Shasha, editor]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Dan Silver

[Rabies continues to pop up sporadically in various parts of eastern
China. This is the latest outbreak, and illustrates the need to
maintain the canine population immune through consistent vaccination
programs. One hopes that the aggressive dog vaccination effort
carried out over the past 2 weeks is successful in eliminating the
rabies risk in the city, and is extended to rural areas as well.

Hanzhong is located in the southwest of Shaanxi Province. An
interactive map showing the location of Shaanxi province in
east-central China can be accessed at

- Mod.TY]