PANAJI
Seven months after celebrating Goa’s ‘rabies free’ status early last year, the State has now reported it’s first death in more than five years due to the dreaded animal transmitted disease which health authorities said occurred in September last year.
The victim is from North Goa, the State Epidemiologist, Dr Prashant Suryavanshi said.
Goa’s directorate of Health Services (DHS) had earned the distinction of being the first Indian State to become ‘rabies free’ having eliminated it in humans for over five years early in February last year.
The DHS’ frequent rabies vaccination campaigns had helped in ensuring that the risk of humans turning rabies positive after being bitten by dogs was next to nil.
However now for the first time in the last five years, in September last year, a person from North Goa tested positive for rabies after being bitten by a dog.
The female victim died while undergoing treatment in hospital, Dr Suryavanshi added.
