During the past four months in Xingning city, Guangdong, it has been reported that nine people have died from rabies, leading the local government to issue a command to kill dogs quickly when found.

As reported by Southern Capital News, the rabies problem has also spread to Yonghe, Huangkui, Xinpo, Ningxin, Fuxing, Luofu, Longbei, Shuiko and Songsheng. It is estimated that at least 10,000 dogs will be killed under the order.

Wang Jinyuan, a resident of Yonghe district in Xingning, was reportedly bitten by his own puppy in early September. He died 10 days later, becoming the ninth rabies fatality in the past four months, despite having received a rabies vaccine treatment. According to the People’s Hospital in Xingning, among those nine, seven of them were bitten by their own dogs. One of them was bitten by a wild dog, with another by a neighbor’s dog.

Statistics show that the death toll due to rabies in Xingning in 1999 was 10,; with six in 2000; seven in 2002, and one in 2003.

In China, many people keep dogs to watch their houses. Many villagers in Xingning City, which is in a mountainous region, have dogs to provide security. According to reports, 18 percent of the healthy dogs in Xingning even carry the rabies virus, and 30 percent of the dogs in Xingning and Wuhua are infected with rabies.

An investigation of the cases of death from rabies this year in Xingning City revealed that seven out of those nine people who were bitten by infected dogs had never received any rabies vaccination shots. Rabies vaccination is expensive, a hindrance for the mountain villagers.

Also, private clinics do not always maintain their vaccine stocks correctly to ensure potency. Wang’s death drew special attention from the Xingning City Public Health and Disease Prevention Department, as he received his first rabies vaccination from a public clinic and got his second and third shots from a private clinic. There are certain restricted control and storage requirements for the rabies vaccine. If the requirements are not properly met, the effectiveness of the vaccine could be reduced or eliminated.

On June 24, 2002 the Xingning City government announced an order to kill stray dogs, and urged people to take vaccination shots due to the rabies outbreak. According to reports, the Bureau of Public Health released a warning this June, titled “Comments on How to Strengthen the Prevention of Rabies,” indicating that they were aware that another outbreak of rabies was under way. But this announcement did not attract the attention of local governments.

It is due to this fear of the further spread of rabies that Xingning City government issued the order to kill all of the dogs infected with rabies, thus partly addressing the canine overpopulation problem.. This will at least act as one precaution against the outbreak.