Stick around Yangon long enough and someone will probably bring up the oft-cited statistic that more than 75 per cent of the city’s dogs have rabies.
It comes from a report by IRIN news agency published last year, but city authorities have now said the figure is likely to be heavily inflated.
“Although we have had incidences of rabies in Myanmar, the amount of dogs carrying rabies in Myanmar is very low, and the amount of humans being infected is even lower,” Dr Hla May Oo, the assistant head of the Yangon City Development Commitee (YCDC) Veterinary and Slaughter Houses Department, told Frontier Magazine.
Rabies is certainly a real threat in Myanmar, however, with WHO data suggesting that there are hundreds of cases each year.
At least two Yangon residents have been exposed to the disease in recent years.
Dr Maw Maw Lwin from the Yangon Animal Center said that one man died in Insein Hospital a few days after he was bitten by a rabid cat. The cat had caught the disease from a dog.
A young boy who was nipped by an infected puppy survived because he was treated quickly.
The incubation period for rabies ranges from four weeks to three months, but once symptoms appear the disease is fatal.
If bitten, those who are vaccinated against the disease should get two or three extra injections. Those who aren’t need to see a doctor straight away, after cleaning the bite with soap and water.
Photo / Ronald Woan / Flickr
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