Sarawak reports eighth death from rabies as primary school pupil from Simunjan dies at SGH

KUCHING: Sarawak yesterday recorded its eighth death from rabies, after an 11- year- old boy from Kampung Sebangkoi Baru, Simunjan district was confi rmed to have died from the disease.

Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (JPBN) in a statement issued here said the boy, who was a pupil of a primary school in Simunjan, passed away at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) at 12.06pm yesterday.

The test result on the clinical sample received f rom the Medical Research Institute in Kuala Lumpur the previous day confirmed the boy was infected by the rabies virus.

JPBN said the victim showed signs and symptoms of rabies on April 18, and was brought by his parents the next day to a private clinic before he was referred to Serian Hospital where he was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis (AGE).

However, his condition worsened and he was reported to have seizure attacks on April 22 before he was referred to SGH the next day for further treatment.

“This case was suspected to have been bitten by a rabid dog or other animals infected by rabies. This is based on bite wounds on his body.

“However, his parents when interviewed could not confirm whether thei r son had any animal bite history,” said the statement.

The boy’s death also marked the third rabies fatality this year, after the deaths of a 59-year- old man from Jalan Batu Kawa– Matang in January and a 26-year- old man from Taman Sri Makmur Batu 6 Matang in April.

The state Health Department, in the same statement, advised anyone with animal bite history especially those in rabies-infested gazetted areas to immediately seek medical attention at the nearest government health facility.

So far, a total 30 areas in five divisions have already been gazetted as rabies infested - 21 in Serian, four in Kuching, three in Samarahan, and one each in Sri Aman and Sarikei.

The rabies outbreak was first detected in Sarawak in June last year, following the deaths of two young siblings from Serian who were infected by rabies after they were bitten by dogs in their village.

The state government has taken various steps to control the spread of rabies including vaccination of dogs and conducting awareness programmes.