By Bisola Adeyemo
No fewer than fifteen people, majorly children and women have died from rabies disease in central Mozambique since the beginning of the year.
This is according to a report unveiled by the provincial authorities on Tuesday during World Rabies Day, BBC reports.
Rabies in humans in Mozambique is mostly transmitted through the bite of the domestic dog.
Officials have urged residents to vaccinate their dogs and cats in an ongoing campaign.
Manica province is planning to vaccinate 4,622 dogs. So far, 2,271 canines have been immunised.
Ernesto Lopes, an official, asked anyone bitten to get a rabies vaccine immediately from the nearest health facility.
Health authorities say 152 cases of dog bites were treated in various health facilities in the western province of Tete. The cases are said to be 21% more this year in the area.
The districts of Angónia, Chifunde, Mutara and Mágoe recorded the fewest cases of dog bites.
The rabies virus is transmitted to humans through dog bites in almost all cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The disease is nearly always fatal without vaccinations and kills thousands of people every year, mostly in Africa and Asia, the WHO says.
