Thread: Rabid Dog Bites Five in Bali

An Indonesian health officer vaccinates a dog against rabies in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, 12 April 2013. An outbreak of rabies in Bali has killed at least 137 people since late 2008. In 2008 there were an estimated 400,000 dogs on the island of Bali, many of which were unchained and roamed neighborhoods freely even if they were owned. (EPA Photo/Made Nagi)
An Indonesian health officer vaccinates a dog against rabies in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, 12 April 2013. An outbreak of rabies in Bali has killed at least 137 people since late 2008. In 2008 there were an estimated 400,000 dogs on the island of Bali, many of which were unchained and roamed neighborhoods freely even if they were owned. (EPA Photo/Made Nagi)
Denpasar. Authorities in Bali were on alert Thursday after a a dog infected with the rabies virus bit five people in Gianyar, an official said.

“The result of the lab test confirmed that the dog that bit five people had rabies,” Dewa Raka, the head of Gianyar’s animal husbandry agency, told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.

The victims were being treated in Sanjiwani hospital in Gianyar on Thursday evening.

“We will conduct a routine operation, especially in public places such as markets,’ Raka said. “We hope this incident will not affect our efforts to declare Bali rabies-free by 2015.”

A rabies outbreak beginning in 2008 quickly became an acute health issue in Bali, prompting an island-wide cull and vaccination program of animals to eliminate the virus, which is fatal to humans.

In 2012, the Health Ministry said the number of people bitten by animals nationwide was 44,981, with 55 fatalities from rabies.

In 2011, 84,010 people were bitten by animals and 184 people died from rabies, including 23 deaths in Bali.

Authorities in Bali said they had vaccinated 180,000 of the estimated 302,00 dogs.

One of the focuses in the campaign to reduce rabies is responsible pet ownership, but the number of stray dogs on the resort island has, according to health officials, necessitated intervention.

“We have decided that strayed dogs, or dogs abandoned by their owner, will have to be culled,” Raka said.

Rabid Dog Bites Five in Bali - The Jakarta Globe

not again !

"prompting an island-wide cull" Long overdue IMO. Those Bali pye-dogs are nasty enough without rabies.

Originally Posted by robuzo

"prompting an island-wide cull" Long overdue IMO. Those Bali pye-dogs are nasty enough without rabies.

I have seen how they do it too, strychnine laced darts through a blowpipe. Very effective but distressing to watch.