With three cows dead and cases of dog bites increasing, locals of Dewathang in Samdrup Joungkhar are worried that they too might fall victim to the viral disease, rabies.
Two more cases of dog bites by a suspected rabid dog were reported yesterday in Rishor village under Dewathang Gewog. And gripped with fears, everyone in the area started carrying sticks to avoid getting bitten.
“I have seen a man being bitten by a dog, the dog bit his leg and then attacked his chest. We are worried and don’t know what to do,” said Kesang, a villager from Dewathang Gewog in Samdrup Jongkhar.
Residents in the area say that a suspected rabid dog died after biting many other dogs in the town area. The Livestock officials took the dead dog for Rapid Rabies Test. And it was confirmed today that the dog was infected and has succumbed to rabies.
Meanwhile, in Domphu_Dungkharchhoeling chiwog under Dewathang Gewog, one more cow died yesterday and another started showing symptoms of rabies and is kept under observation and isolated from other livestock.
“At first, the cow started to get sick, it does not eat anything and later it starts to make loud noise and saliva comes from its mouth and nose. Now we are worried, we took a loan for purchasing all the cows, one is already dead and I am worried that other cows may also get it,” said Rinchen Wangmo, a villager from Dewathang Gewog.
“I haven’t seen any dog biting my cow, in the evening my cow started to make a loud noise and we had stopped selling milk also after the livestock officer instructed us. My cow was sick for three days. It does not eat anything, and I tried to give water but my cow gets scared and makes a lot of noise,” added Sonam Dorji, also from Dewathang.
The rabies outbreak has also affected the local business. Marketing of milk from the Dewathang Milk Marketing Nyamley Tsokdhey and Domphu_Dungkharchhoeling chiwog have been stopped following the death of two cows recently. However, officials say the marketing will resume after a week if they don’t receive any cases of a cow being affected.
Meanwhile, livestock officials are vaccinating anti-rabies vaccination to every dog in the affected areas and trying their best to contain the outbreak.
Kinley Wangchuk
