DHAKA: Dogs bite around a hundred thousand people in Bangladesh a year, mostly in rural areas, and some 2,000 of them die a dreadful death from rabies.

“Mostly poor people, and especially children under 15, are being affected by the disease which comes from dog bite. Some 85 percent of those who die are from rural areas,” Professor Dr. Moazzem Hossain, Director of Disease Control, told a press conference at Bangladesh Infectious Diseases Hospital in Mohakhali.

Rabies is a contagious viral disease of especially dogs, transmissible through saliva to humans causing madness and often hydrophobia.

Many people die every year in Bangladesh as they take advice of quacks.
 
Hossain said rabies is transmitted to humans when an infected animal’s saliva comes in contact with broken skin, such as with a bite or scratch. Bats, foxes, cats are also commonly infected.

“A completely preventable disease, rabies can be dealt with proper medical attention,” he said.

Every year, over 55 thousand people die of rabies around the world, which counts one in every ten minutes.

Hossain said the number of rabies victims was reportedly on the rise.

The Health Directorate has taken up initiative to train doctors and nurses on cell-culture vaccination. In phases, the training will cover all the hospitals across the country, Hossain said.

“Initiatives also include registering dogs in different pilot-project areas, including Narsingdi, Kutubdia and Cox’s Bazar,” Hossain said.

He underscored the need for coordinated efforts by health directorate, livestock department and local-government bodies.

BDST: 1920 HRS, 25 JULY 2010