By CYRUS M. GARDE
SAGAY City — A nine-year-old resident of Brgy. Puey here had died of rabies after having been bitten by a dog two months ago.
Justin Gamosa was buried on Wednesday. He was the third rabies fatality reported in Negros Occidental so far this year.
On April 24, another Sagay resident (in Brgy. Poblacion) died of rabies after having been bitten by a dog in December last year.
In March, a woman from Brgy. Daga, Cadiz City, died after she was bitten by a rabid dog in January.
All the fatalities had symptoms of rabies, including hydrophobia, said Provincial Health Officer Dr. Ernell Tumimbang.
Interestingly, nine others were bitten by the same dog that bit Gamosa.
Justin’s brother, Leo Gamosa Jr., had taken an anti-rabies vaccine after Justin died.
Others bitten were Leticia Asotes, 35, and her children Rodel, 17, Ronald Jr., 9, Kaye, 7, Lance, 5, and Lyndon, 15; Archie Mendoza, 16; and Jasper Castor, 7.
The rabid dog had already been executed by its owner.
The Sagay City Health Office, with the help of Puey Barangay Captain Alberto Salcedo, conducted anti-rabies vaccination among dog bite victims in the village.
A rabies outbreak had been declared in the cities of Cadiz, Bacolod and San Carlos, and the towns of Pulupandan and Binalbagan.
Bacolod had four rabid dogs; Pulupandan, two; and Binalbagan, San Carlos and Cadiz, one each, Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) records from January to April this year showed.
A rabies outbreak has not yet been declared in Sagay City.
The PVO, through the rural health units, had conducted a massive survey of dogs but not yet a massive dog vaccination.
A rabies outbreak can be declared in an area even if there is only one rabid dog because it is presumed that the dog had bitten other stray dogs in the area, thereby spreading the virus, Provincial Veterinarian Renante Decena had said.
Data from PVO showed there were 219,000 dogs in Negros Occidental but only 24,000 — about 10 percent — have been vaccinated against rabies./PN
