Measures mooted for dog-bite victims

RAJAPALAYAM: After a stray rabid dog went on a biting spree in Rajapalayam town on Friday and Saturday, health officials came out with precautionary measures to prevent any infection. While the contact details of victims reported as 64 in the end were collected for follow-up, veterinary doctors have confined dogs in the vicinity to administer rabies vaccination for canines too.
M Kathiresan, joint director of health services, Virudhunagar district said that 64 people - 44 men, 14 women and 6 children - were bitten by a single stray dog between these two days. Considering the situation of rabid dog involved in biting, all the patient details including their contact numbers and address were collected. They will be alerted to take vaccines on the 3{+r}{+d}, 7{+t}{+h} and 28{+t}{+h} day. "We have instructed municipal officials not to miss out anyone and alert them in advance or visit them on these days to administer vaccines. Not a single chance of risk could be taken since a rabid dog is involved," he said.
The dog which went on biting spree was lynched by local people on Saturday and suffered severe injuries and died. The brain of this dog has been secured and will be sent to Veterinary Research Institute in Namakkal for further laboratory testing, veterinary department officials said. Another dog which was associated with the infected dog died while being taken to veterinary hospital after it was caught by municipal workers on Saturday evening. The 13 dogs caught on Sunday did not show any aggressive symptoms but were administered vaccines as precautionary measure, officials said. Meanwhile
Municipality officials are planning to take out massive vaccination drive for street dogs in the town. The drive may last for next 10 days covering entire canine population, they said.