Seven-year-old girl is third victim to die of rabies in Serian

KUCHING: The rabies outbreak in Serian district has claimed its third victim – a seven-year-old girl – from Kampung Lebor. She died at 2.16pm yesterday.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said another five-year-old girl from Kampung Ampungan remained in critical condition in the paediatric intensive care unit at the Sarawak General Hospital.

“As of Thursday, there are four confirmed cases of rabies in Serian.

“Active detection to trace dog bite cases has been carried out at 96 villages in Serian. This exercise involved 5,663 households and 21,978 people.

“A total of 225 dog bite cases have been detected and treated,” he said in a statement.

On July 4, a six-year-old girl and her four-year-old brother from Kampung Paon, Sungai Rimu, died from the infection.

Meanwhile, the state government has declared Kampung Tangga in Serian as a rabies-infected area following an inspection by the state disaster management committee.

This brings to seven the number of rabies-infected villages in Serian. The others are Kampung Paon Rimu, Kampung Paon Rimu Bakung, Kampung Remun, Kampung Lebor, Kampung Krait and Kampung Saroban.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who chairs the committee, said the Sarawak Veterinary Services Department has vaccinated 464 dogs, 1,493 cats and 18 other animals in the affected areas.

Yesterday, the vaccination teams administered the doses in Kampung Slabi, Kampung Tangga Mawang, Kampung Ranchan, Kampung Rasau, Kampung Koran and Kampung Sorak.

“The department will also conduct a mass vaccination exercise in Serian town this weekend at four venues – Balai Babuk Gawing, Serian community hall, Serian veterinary office and Serian district council.

“I urge owners of household pets to bring them to be vaccinated for free,” Uggah said.