3 People Died As A Result Of Rabies Dog Bites At TTS NTT

KUPANG - The Department of Animal Breeders and Health of South Central Timor Regency (TTS) East Nusa Tenggara reported that the number of people who died from being bitten by rabies dogs in the district was three people.

"Three people have died because they were late in receiving the anti-rabies (VAR) vaccine," said Head of the Livestock and Animal Health Service of South Central Timor Regency, Dinar Atti, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, June 15.

He said this was related to the development of cases of rabies bites in the district, which until now have been reported to continue to grow.

The three people consisted of one 45-year-old adult, two five-year-old toddlers and 3.5 years old.

The adult who died last May was found to have been bitten by a computer in April. Meanwhile, a five-year-old toddler was bitten last May. While a 3.5-year-old toddler was bitten on May 7 last.

"However, it was only reported that the dog was bitten on May 31 when rabies symptoms were already there," he said.

The 3.5-year-old toddler was treated for several days but eventually on June 13 died.

Contacted separately by the Head of the TTS Anti Rabies Task Force, Addy Tallo said that it is impossible for those who already have rabies symptoms to be injected with VAR because the vaccine will certainly not work.

"They were late in reporting, making it difficult to handle again," he added.

Based on a report from the Animal Husbandry and Animal Health Service of South Central Timor Regency (TTS) as of Wednesday (14/6) yesterday, the number of cases of rabies dog bites in TTS amounted to 307 people.

This number is spread across 90 villages and 25 sub-districts from 32 sub-districts in South Central Timor district.