The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health yesterday said that 49 people died of rabies in 20 cities and provinces across the country.
Head of the Department of Preventive Medicine Dr. Tran Dac Phu said that rabies is a dangerous disease caused by rabies virus, a neurotropic virus that causes rabies in humans and animals. Rabies transmission can occur through the saliva of animals and less commonly through contact with human saliva.
Rabies virus variants have circulated in the country for years. On average, around 400,000 people were bitten by cats and dogs. Especially, the northern mountainous region is considered “hot spots” for the rabies virus with over 80 percent of mortality.
These died of rabies because they did not go to medical institutes for vaccination and most of them live in countryside areas where dogs and cats are allowed to wander and are not vaccinated. People in these places have little knowledge of rabies.
