The quantity of people that have sought remedy throughout Kerala for stray dog bites has additionally progressively gone up in the last four years.
| Photo Credit: T. SINGARAVELOU
Rabies brought on by stray dog bites has claimed 47 lives in Kerala in the last four years between January 2020 and January 2024, revealed a response by the workplace of the State well being director to a Right to Information (RTI) utility.
This was in addition to 22 extra lives ‘probably’ misplaced to rabies, in line with the response acquired by RTI activist Raju Vazhakkala.
The highest variety of 10 ‘confirmed rabies deaths’ was reported from Kollam district, adopted by 9 in Thiruvananthapuram.
Five lives every have been misplaced in Thrissur and Kannur, four in Kozhikode, three every in Ernakulam and Palakkad, two every in Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, and Wayanad, and one every in Malappuram and Kasaragod districts through the interval.
Among the ‘probable rabies deaths,’ seven have been reported from Alappuzha, three every in Thrissur and Palakkad, two every in Kottayam and Malappuram and one every in Idukki and Kozhikode districts.
“At a time when human-wildlife conflict has become a major discussion point, a serious public health issue caused by stray dogs has gone largely under the radar. Sixty-nine lives, including 22 probable deaths due to rabies, in four years is a significant number and the issue needs attention,” mentioned Mr. Vazhakkala.
While 15 deaths every have been confirmed resulting from rabies in 2022 and 2023, 11 lives have been misplaced in 2021, 5 in 2020 and one in the primary month of 2024 alone. Among the 22 possible deaths brought on by rabies, 12 occurred in 2022 and 10 in 2023.
The quantity of people that have sought remedy throughout the State for stray dog bites has additionally progressively gone up in the last four years. While 1.6 lakh folks sought remedy in 2020, it rose to 2.21 lakh in 2021, 2.88 lakh in 2022 and three.06 lakh in 2023. In the primary month of 2024 alone, 26,060 folks sought remedy for stray dog chunk.
Thiruvananthapuram led the record with 1.46 lakh folks in search of remedy over the last four years, adopted by Palakkad with 1.14 lakh and Kollam with 1.11 lakh.
Families of not all victims of rabies obtain monetary help by the Central or State governments. However, loss of life and injury brought on by stray dog bites are being compensated by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice S. Siri Jagan Committee by way of the native our bodies involved. There isn’t any particular sum however the compensation is assessed primarily based on the extent of injury and circumstances.