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Chennai: In a horrific and hair-raising incident, tension and fear prevailed in Chennai as a stray dog that was beaten to death after biting 29 people in Chennai has test positive for rabies, officials said. The dog attacked pedestrians in the Royapuram area and bit their feet and ankles. It bit 29 people within an hour before the locals pelted the dog with stones and then thrashed it to death.
Among the 29 people who were bitten by the dog on Tuesday, five were children. Some of them got injured after unconsciously falling on the road while trying to escape the dog and as a result were admitted to Government Stanley Medical College and Hospital.
The injured ones were admitted overnight to a government hospital and were administered anti-rabies vaccine shots. They will have to return for four more shots, said a doctor at the hospital. According to the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) these individuals are being strictly monitored.
Civic officials sent its body for postmortem to the Madras Veterinary College where its samples were found to be positive.
According to sources, the dog bite victims include 10 school children and some elderly people, who fell in the attack and suffered head injuries. At least 24 of them suffered deep cuts due to the dog bite.
Following the incident, Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner J Radhakrishnan said the civic officials caught 52 dogs from the area and are monitoring them.
“We are going for a full-fledged dog census from November 27 from Monday onwards. We are vaccinating all dogs. We do 15,000-17,000 sterilisations every year. In Royapuram, all 29 people have been given immunoglobulins. and we’re doing ring vaccination surrounding that street,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramaniam today tried to allay residents’ fears and promised to check dogs across Chennai by doctors. “We have planned to conduct a census to count the number of dogs in Chennai. There is no need to fear, doctors will advise on their health,” the minister said after the news of the dog being rabid escalates.
Dogs are most likely responsible for the transmission of rabies to humans and the disease can be fatal if left untreated despite symptoms.
