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More than 40 million people attacked by animals annually
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-09-27 18:13
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More than 40 million people in the Chinese mainland are attacked by animals annually, a recently released Ministry of Health report said, according to Xinhuanet. The number was calculated from the amount of rabies vaccines consumed every year.
The Ministry of Health also said China is one of the countries most threatened by rabies. In recent years, an average of more than 2,400 people in China have died from rabies infections annually. Only India has a higher number of rabies-related fatalities, according to Xinhuanet.
Most rabies deaths in the past five years occurred in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guizhou, Guangdong, Hunan and Sichuan provinces, accounting for 60.85 percent of the total, the Ministry of Health report said.
The number of cases in the central and northern parts of China also increased in the last few years, the report said. It also noted that rabies infections mostly occurred in rural areas among males, children under the age of 15, and elderly people over the age of 50.
Rabies is an acute infectious disease which can be contracted by both human and dogs, and is often spread through dog bites.
