The Shanghai Public Health Center yesterday confirmed Jin Weiren contacted rabies after his two dogs bit him earlier this year.

The Jinshan District Disease Prevention Center has sterilized the man's residence in Luxiang Town and vaccinated anyone who had close contact with the victim.

District police have also launched a blanket search of the area for unlicensed dogs. They wouldn't say how many unlicensed canines have been seized and killed so far.

According to police, Jin was rushed to the town's medical clinic on August 1, then transferred to a district hospital. He finally died at the Shanghai Public Health Center at 12:20am on Saturday.

Jin was bitten twice on the left hand by a female dog he kept and one of its puppy in January and July of this year.

The man did not receive medical treatment for the wounds until August 1 when he came down with the illness, police said.

Zhou Yaowei, an official from the Shanghai Public Health Center, said Jin was very ill by the time he arrived at hospital.

"If a person really develops the disease, there is a slim chance of saving the patient under present medical capabilities," he said.

Zhou said it is important for anyone who has been bitten by a dog to immediately go to hospital for treatment. He noted, however, that rabies is not common in the city, although the disease is prevalent in other parts of the country.

According to the Shanghai Health Bureau, one migrant person died of rabies in the first half of this year.