SIBU, Apr 3: A 3-year-old girl is the second child to have been attacked by a dog in Salim-Stabau area.
According to Public Health committee of Sibu Rural District Council chairman Mathew Paran, the dog bit the girl on her hand at her longhouse, Rumah Joseph on Friday (April 3) morning.
“The victim has been admitted to Sibu Hospital and was given anti-tetanus, Rabies immunoglobulin, and anti-rabies vaccine,” he said.
Mathew said a stray dog catching team from the council would go to the longhouse tomorrow (April 4) for necessary action.
On March 8, a 5-year old girl in Kampung Sentosa was bitten by a dog on her face, mouth, and eyelids.
She was given anti-tetanus, Rabies immunoglobulin, and three doses of anti-rabies vaccine on two separate days at Sibu Hospital.
MOH director-general, Datuk Noor Hisham Abdullah said the girl was discharged from hospital on March 16 but was re-admitted on March 25 when she showed symptoms of rabies, but she died on March 26 due to rabies.
Earlier on Friday morning, Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman, Clarence Ting who wrote on his Facebook said he had informed the relevant authorities on the new case as it happened in Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) area.
Ting said he came to know of the case from a longhouse chieftain in the area.
Following the death of the 5-year old girl, he said SMC Enforcement Unit had incorporated efforts to instill greater awareness of the public on the danger of rabies.
“This is done in addition to the daily dog catching exercise conducted on-site by our public health Stray Dog Catching team,” he revealed.
Besides that SMC Daily Covid-19 Inspection Team headed by its Enforcement officers have also begun distributing flyers on eradicating rabies, especially at pharmacy and supermarket outlets while checking
on social distancing requirements during this period of MCO, he added.
“This two-prong approach will hopefully bring about better utilization of resources during this challenging time,” he hoped.
On Friday, SMC teams has conducted the rabies awareness campaign while inspecting two major supermarkets, namely Sing Kwong Supermarket and Farley Supermarket; three other major business outlets,
namely KFC Sdn Bhd, Pizza Hut Sdn Bhd and Watson; and another 3 coffee shops at Salim areas.
“Today the dog unit is conducting strays catching at Seduan area. The staff has elected to use tranquilliser guns,” he said.
Ting urged the public not to interfere its dog units conducting its operation.
“Yesterday when our dog unit was doing operations in Rejang park market, there was a lady who tried to stop them from carrying out their duties. I urge those public not to interfere as this is against the law obstructing public officers carrying out their duties. For that case the police had to intervene,” he said. —DayakDaily
