A man in Tabanan, Bali has been bitten by a dog that tested positive for rabies.
I Made Wicana, 40, a resident of Dauh Peken Village was attacked by his neighbor’s dog on Sept. 14.
“At that time, I was bitten when I was buying canang (offerings) at the house of the dog’s owner. I went to the emergency room at a Tabanan hospital and was medicated twice,” Wicana told Tribun Bali on Wednesday.
The dog’s owner, Nyoman Winata, 40, said his pet dog underwent observation, but then suddenly died on Sept. 30.
A sample of the dog’s brain was taken, which came back rabies positive. When the dog was dying, it showed no symptoms of aggression, characteristic in rabid dogs, after succumbing to convulsions, Winata said.
The owner admitted that he had not kept up with his dog’s routine anti-rabies vaccinations since it was a puppy.
Head of Tabanan’s Department of Animal Husbandry Wayan Kotio said the regency is attempting to mass vaccinate dogs in the region to deal with the virus’ spread and raise awareness about the necessity of vaccinations.
Kotio emphasized the importance of routinely getting dogs vaccinated against rabies, that just one time is not good enough since immunity only lasts about a year.
The department has a vaccination booth at Lapangan Dangin Carik every Sunday to inject unvaccinated pet dogs.
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