The Ministry of Health stated that in the first 2 months of 2024 alone, the country recorded 22 deaths due to rabid dog bites, two times higher than the same period in 2023 with 10 cases. In particular, more cases of rabies with a short incubation period of 10-15 days were reported; worse, many of them were children under 5 years old who were bitten by dogs and cats on the head and face, causing serious injuries.
Medical experts pointed out the culprit that people bitten by suspected rabid animals are not vaccinated with anti-rabies serum and do not get the rabies vaccine or they are vaccinated so late that they couldn’t get enough doses, or do not follow the instructions.
Moreover, administrations in some localities have lax management in dog and cat herds with the rabies vaccination rate on animals only reaching nearly 50 percent of the total dog and cat herds. From the beginning of 2024 until now, rabies caused three deaths in the Southern Province of Binh Thuan.
Three deaths were reported after the Lunar New Year with 2 deaths in February 2024 and 1 death in March 2024. According to an investigation, the dog which bit these people had not been vaccinated with the rabies vaccine and anti-rabies serum.
Also on the same day, the People's Committee of Ca Mau City in the Mekong Delta Province of Ca Mau announced the appearance of a rabies outbreak in dogs in Chanh hamlet in Ly Van Lam Commune.
The local administration is requiring its animal health agency to strictly implement rabies prevention and control measures according to regulations as well as spray disinfectant in the hotpot of rabies and surrounding households that are raising dogs.
