The risk of rabies in the northern Vietnam Thái Nguyên Province is ever present as dog bites are fairly common. Since the beginning of the year, provincial health authorities have reported some 2,500 bitten by suspected rabid dogs, according to local media.

Rabies
A canine suspected of being rabid that had been exhibiting signs of restlessness, and overall uncharacteristic aggressive behavior, which are two symptoms of rabies.
Image/CDC

This unfortunately has resulted in three human rabies deaths in individuals age range 8 to 63 years. They were from Ðồng Hỷ and Võ Nhai districts and in Sông Công City. None of them sought medical attention and post exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

Six people died from rabies in the province in 2015.

Only about half the dogs in the province have been vaccinated against rabies.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), rabies is endemic in Vietnam and has been a reportable disease for more than a decade. The main vector for rabies in Vietnam is the domestic dog.

According to the OIE World Animal Health Information System in 2013 Vietnam reported 102 cases of rabies in humans.

A 2015 study shows that 160 people die every single day from the disease globally for a total of nearly 60,000 human rabies deaths.

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