02-08-2024
Rabies is Still a Threat
According to the National Public Health Centre (NPHC), the number of people seeking medical attention due to injuries by animals in Lithuania is decreasing every year. However, during the warmer months of the year, there is tipically an increase in the number of cases where people are bitten by domestic or wild animals. These injuries are dangerous because of the threat of rabies. Read the report to find out how dangerous this disease is and how to protect against it.
The threat to travellers
Both wild (foxes, wolves, raccoon dogs) and domestic (dogs, cats, cattle) animals can get infected with rabies. Systematic oral vaccination of wild animals against rabies using baits with a weakened vaccine, which has been introduced in Lithuania since 2006, has effectively reduced the prevalence of rabies in the country. The last case of human death associated with rabies in Lithuania was reported in 2007 (a person contracted the disease while travelling in India, where he was bitten by an stray dog). However, travellers should remain extra vigilant.
"Rabies is common in some parts of the world, hence travellers should be aware of the risk in advance. Asia and Africa are the regions where incidence and mortality from rabies are particularly high. " – points out Rasa Liausėdienė, adviser of the Communicable Disease Management Division at NPHC.
Dogs are more likely to bite
Between 2004 and 2023, the number of people who reported having been harmed by animals decreased.
Last year, 1,489 people were treated for injuries caused by various wild and domestic animals, compared to 3,845 in 2022 and 3,603 in 2021. Last year, 1010 people were injured by dogs, 415 by cats and 51 by wild animals. Over the last three years, there has been a 30% decrease in the number of victims seeking medical attention for various injuries; however, the number of people vaccinated against rabies after an injury is not decreasing (in 2023, 779 people in Lithuania (52% of the total number of applicants) received rabies immunisation).
How is it contracted?
People get rabies when they are bitten, scratched or exposed to the saliva of an animal with rabiesand the rabies virus enters the wound with its saliva. Bites on the naked body are more dangerous than through clothing. Bites on the face are particularly dangerous. Infection is less likely if a rabid animal's saliva gets into skin scratches, conjunctiva or mucous membranes.
The incubation period of the disease can last from 12 days to several months, depending on the site of entry (the closer to the head, the shorter the incubation period), the amount of infection in the wound, etc.
The first symptoms of rabies include fever, headache and weakness. As the disease progresses, fear of water, fear of drafts or of fresh air, laryngeal spasms, muscle weakness, coma and death occur. The only way to save a person's life after being bitten, scratched or scalded by a rabid animal is to go to a medical facility in time for an assessment of the risk of injury and rabies vaccination.
"We urge everybody to be careful not to pet or tease stray and aggressive animals. If an animal bites or scratches you, it is recommended to wash the wound with running water and soap, then disinfect it and seek immediate medical attention. The doctor, after assessing the possible risk, will prescribe the rabies vaccination course consisting of five doses of the vaccine given on days 0, 3, 7, 14 and 28," – says the NPHC advisor.