The Central Highlands province of Gia Lai saw the highest number of rabies-caused fatalities with nine, followed by Nghe An and Dien Bien provinces with six cases each, Binh Phuoc and Ben Tre with four each. 

The remaining infections were from 20 other localities.

Every year, about 400,000 people in Vietnam bitten by dogs and cats need a rabies vaccine, costing a total of VND300 billion per year, the Vietnam News Agency said.

Vietnam’s draft national plan on rabies prevention and control for 2022-2030 aims to put an end to human deaths related to rabies by 2030.

The Vietnam News Agency cited a survey from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development conducted last year as saying that there were nearly seven million dogs across Vietnam, but only 40 percent were vaccinated.

Only 13 localities had over 70 percent vaccination rates.

Source: Dtinews