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Rabid dogs kill 78 in Bali
[Straits Times] A RABIES epidemic has gripped Bali, an island of three million people and one of Asia's top tourist destinations.
Well...it was...
Seventy-eight deaths have officially been logged in the past two years, including that of a 40-year-old woman a week ago, and many other deaths have likely gone unreported. The Indonesian government says it is overwhelmed, with more than 30,000 dog bites reported in just the first half of this year across Bali. In a highly criticised move, officials killed about 200,000 dogs, instead of initially conducting mass vaccinations as recommended by the World Health Organisation.
FILTHY INFIDEL BEASTS!!!
'We have a serious problem with the anti-rabies vaccine for humans ... we are very short of treatment across the island,' said Nyoman Sutedja, chief of Bali's provincial health ministry, who expects all stocks to run out by next month. 'We need help.' Hospitals across Bali have faced periodic shortages of free post-exposure vaccines since the outbreak began, leaving poor residents with few options. The shots remain available at pharmacies, but many Balinese cannot afford them.

'The sad part is they get to the hospital and they get turned away because they don't have any vaccines,' said Janice Girardi, an American who runs the nonprofit Bali Animal Welfare Association, which has vaccinated 45,000 dogs and recently received funding to conduct an islandwide campaign. 'Then they go home and die.'
There's an adverb missing here. They go home and die, horribly. Killing all the stray dogs is a sensible response, under the circumstances; poverty is so much more life-affecting, when one lives in a poor country.
Several countries, including the United States and Australia, have issued travel warnings advising vacationers to consider getting pre-exposure rabies vaccinations before arriving and to avoid contact with dogs while in Bali. A handful of foreign tourists have reported dog bites, but none have been fatal.
Say, Bill, what's that foamy crap on your mouth?
Shots given immediately after contact with saliva from a rabid animal can easily prevent death. But once symptoms appear, treatment is useless.

Rabies kills some 55,000 people annually - mostly children - with nearly 60 per cent of those deaths from dog bites in Asia, according to the WHO. The disease still exists in the US, but human deaths are extremely rare. Nearly all bites occur from wild animals, such as raccoons or bats.
Posted by: Fred 2010-08-03
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=302472