DUSHANBE, December 27, 2008, Asia-Plus — Tajik medical authorities are concern over increasing rabies cases in the country.
According to Navrouz Jaffarov, head of the center for sanitary and epidemiologic supervision within the Ministry of Health (MoH), 13 cases of rabies have been registered in the country over the first ten months of this year, which is 7 cases more than in the same period of last year.
Specialists note that in 70-80 percent of cases, the disease is caused by delay in seeking medical aid. Another reason is insufficient financing of medical facilities for purchase of necessary medical preparations and rabies vaccines.
Rabies also known as hydrophobia is a viral zoonotic neuroinvasive disease causes acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) in mammals. It is most commonly caused by a bite from an infected animal, but occasionally by other forms of contact. If left untreated in humans it is almost invariably fatal. In some countries it is a significant killer of livestock.
The rabies virus makes its way to the brain by following the peripheral nerves. The incubation period of the disease depends on how far the virus must travel to reach the central nervous system, usually taking a few months. Once the infection reaches the central nervous system and symptoms begin to show, the untreated infection is almost inevitably fatal within days.
In non-vaccinated humans, rabies is almost invariably fatal after neurological symptoms have developed, but prompt post-exposure vaccination may prevent the virus from progressing. Rabies kills around 55,000 people a year, mostly in Asia and Africa.
