The Public Health Veterinary Service has revealed that approximately 300,000 dog bites are reported annually in Sri Lanka.
As a consequence, nearly 200,000 human rabies vaccines were administered last year to combat the deadly disease.
Dr. Yeshan Guruge, a Medical Officer with the Public Health Veterinary Service, disclosed that rabies claimed 20 lives in the past year. Of these fatalities, 11 were attributed to dog bites, one to a raccoon bite, while in the remaining eight cases, the source of the infection could not be conclusively identified.
Dr. Guruge further noted that middle-aged individuals are the most frequent victims of animal bites, with men accounting for 50% of the cases.
Although the overall number of dog bites has gradually declined over the past decade, the incidence of rabies cases has shown an alarming increase.
Highlighting the significant financial burden, Dr. Guruge stated that over 600 million rupees are spent annually on human rabies vaccinations in Sri Lanka.
