The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Panic over suspected rabies

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Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Panic over suspected rabies

Staff Reporter

Hundred people from Aanappara take anti-rabies vaccination

People fear they contracted rabies from milk of a cow
Doctors say rarely does rabies spread through milk

Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly a 100 people from Aanappara, near Vithura, were administered anti-rabies vaccination shots at Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) here on Monday following a mass hysteria that they might have contracted rabies from the milk of a cow whose calf had displayed symptoms of the disease.

The MCH authorities had to open up the auditorium to accommodate the hundreds of people who hired a bus and came to the hospital claiming that the milk of the cow had been supplied to a local tea shop they had gone to. Several local body leaders too accompanied the group.

Health officials said the calf, owned by a local woman, was bitten by a rabid dog last week. Though the calf was subsequently vaccinated, the local people killed it as they suspected that it had begun to display symptoms of rabies.

Cow not rabid

Even though the cow was not rabid, people started raising doubts that the cow could have contracted the virus from the calf’s saliva.

When it turned out that the cow’s milk had been supplied to a local tea shop, all those who had visited the shop turned up at the Vithura hospital on Sunday fearing that they might have contracted the virus through the milk. They were referred to the MCH as the hospital was not equipped to handle the situation.

The doctors at the Community Medicine department pointed out to the people that it was extremely rare that rabies spread through milk. In this instance, the cow was not even rabid.

Also, the rabies virus was heat-sensitive and if at all it was present in the milk, it would have been destroyed when the milk was boiled.

However, when doubts were raised if the milk had been properly boiled, the MCH authorities decided that they would administer the anti-rabies vaccine to all those who said they needed it.

The district medical administration offered to supply the necessary vaccine for everyone.

All those who took the first dose will have to be given two more doses in subsequent weeks to complete the vaccination cycle.

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