Dr Jamilah Hashim
KUCHING: The State Health Department has not received any reports of new rabies cases outside the affected areas in Serian District.
Its director Dr Jamilah Hashim said she had received queries on Monday asking if it’s true there is a new case in Simunjan.
“We have not received any report on suspected or probable case outside the five villages (Kerait, Paon Rimu, Paun Rimu Bakung, Remun and Lebur) in Serian District of the rabies outbreak,” she told a press conference after attending the State Disaster Management Committee meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here yesterday.
She said at present, the Health Department was carrying out an Active Case Detection with 10 teams having been sent to the infected zones.
“They will go to each house or each door at longhouses to obtain information on whether any residents have been bitten by a dog since April 1.
“Our latest information as at 3pm Monday is that we have detected 43 people having been bitten by dogs in the affected areas.”
She, however, said this did not mean that those who were bitten would immediately be classified as a ‘suspected’ rabies case.
“They will be reviewed by a doctor or specialist in the team who will examine the type or severity of the wound caused by the dog bite,” she said, adding there were three risk categories for this, namely, no wound, scratches and open wound.
The dog bite victim, she said, would also be asked whether the dog was a household pet, a pet that mixed with strays or a stray dog.
“Taking into account these two factors, the specialists will then identify which dog bite victim requires vaccination which we call ‘post exposure treatment’.”
Dr Jamilah also urged those who have been bitten by dogs when they were within the areas of the five villages in Serian District in the past three months, to immediately report themselves to the nearest clinic.
“If we were to look at the three rabies cases, from the time they were bitten by the dog until the symptoms appeared, is about three months.
“Therefore, the people from the five villages who either live there or were visiting at the time, if they have been bitten by a dog, they should report themselves immediately to the nearest clinic.”