SHANGHAI - Rabies killed six people in the city in the first eight months of the year, while in the same period last year only one person was infected by the deadly virus.

Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday called on citizens to raise awareness of the health risks resulting from dog bites.

The disease center treated more than 40,000 people for dog bites in the first half of this year, 40 percent more than in the same period last year, said Leng Guangming, a spokesman for the center.

Most of the dog bites occurred in suburban areas, and the majority of the dogs were strays or unlicensed animals.

Some 85 percent of the people bitten were not registered residents of Shanghai, and most of them were injured on their hands, feet, faces or noses, according to statistics from Punan Hospital.

Jenny Sun, a volunteer with I-dog-I-cat, a group dedicated to rescuing stray animals in Shanghai, said many dog owners tend to let their dogs run around unleashed in the suburbs.

In one case last Sunday, a stray dog bit 16 people and then died. The victims included a 6-year-old boy, who was squatting playing with another child when the yellow dog bit him on the face.

Local police found the body of the dog on Monday morning, and said it could have been beaten to death by people angry over the dog's attacks, according to Shanghai-based Labor Daily.

Although volunteers have launched campaigns to persuade people in suburbs to change their behavior with animals and tie up their dogs, Sun said they have found it very difficult to change people's habits.

In addition, in suburban communities where a large number of underprivileged people reside, few dogs have been registered or vaccinated, even though the licensing fee for pet dogs in Shanghai has been dropped by 60 percent following the revised dog administration regulation in May.

"The government should coordinate vaccination injections for dogs in these communities at a lower price to make it more acceptable," Sun said.

She suggested you should not put out your hands to touch an unfamiliar dog.

At present, the municipal police usually send dog catchers to take away stray dogs if people report them through the 110 service line. Groups such as I-dog-I-cat can also help to find homes for stray dogs, she said.

Experts said dogs infected by the rabies virus may not show any symptoms, and will still be able to pass it on to human by bites.

Bites near the human head are more likely to cause serious infection, according to information from the disease center. The virus can stay dormant in the human body for six months.

Doctors suggest people bitten by dogs get immediate treatment and have vaccination shots as soon as possible.