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Local Police issued an advisory to people to beware of dogs with around a dozen dog bites occurring in villages around Sangla in last few days

 

People in Sangla valley in tribal Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh have been advised to beware of stray dogs, following around a dozen dog bite cases in a couple of villages surrounding Sangla in the last few days.

 

As per the advisory, which was issued by the local Police on Tuesday, the people have been cautioned to stay away from stray dogs, some of which are suspected to have rabies and can attack anyone. The locals have been asked to take care of their children moving out alone in the open, especially in villages Kuppa, Kamru, Saaring, and Badseri around Sangla.

 

According to the cops at Sangla Police Station, there have been reports of bites by a female dog, which has supposedly bitten some humans and dogs as well. While the people bitten by dogs have been given treatment at the local health institution, the Animal Husbandry department is reportedly trying to get hold of such dogs.

 

The treatment for dog bites is free in all government hospitals in the state. According to experts, anyone bitten by a stray dog or even a pet dog should immediately get the anti-rabies vaccine at the nearby facility along with rabies immunoglobulin at the wound site.

Those who have had shots of anti-rabies vaccination earlier in the past should also get a booster dose of anti-rabies vaccine on the second bite if it occurs three months after the first bite.

 

Rabies virus is mostly transmitted by dogs. However, monkeys, mongooses, cats and some other mammals are also the source of rabies. Rabies is a hundred per cent fatal, but a hundred per cent preventable disease, as per experts.

It is pertinent to mention that in Himachal Pradesh, the number of rabies deaths has been brought down from 35 to 1-2  annually over the last decade and a half with good surveillance and affordable dog bite treatment, which is now given free of cost to people in all government hospitals.

 

Generally, the people, who did not come to the hospital for dog bite treatment due to unawareness, are the ones who died of Rabies, so far as Himachal Pradesh is concerned.