NewsDesk @bactiman63

South Africa health authorities reported a confirmed human rabies case of the year in a child from Buffalo City Municipality near the east coast of the Eastern Cape Province.

Image/Robert Herriman

The nine-year-old boy presented with rabies disease at a hospital in East London, on the 27 September 2022 and died the following day. The child presented with fever, malaise, nausea, headache, vomiting, seizures, confusion, hypersalivation, aggressiveness, hyperactivity, severe brain swelling and generalized congestion prior to death.

A postmortem brain sample confirmed rabies by direct fluorescent antibody detection on 7 October 2022. The child resided with his family on a farm in Mdantsane, and although the child had abrasions on his right upper limbs and lateral chest walls, no specific animal-biting incident was recalled.

A total of 11 cases of human rabies have been confirmed in South Africa for 2022 to date. These cases are reported from the following provinces: Eastern Cape (n=6), Limpopo (n=3) and KwaZulu-Natal (n=2). In addition, five probable cases of rabies were reported from the Eastern Cape Province.

Fashion from Amazon Essentials

Subscribe to Outbreak News TV on YouTube