A 34-YEAR-OLD woman from the town of Sibu is the latest person to die from rabies in Sarawak.

She is the fourth death from the contagious and fatal viral disease this year and the 25th since the outbreak in the state started in July 2017.

There were 26 recorded rabies cases in the state. The “survivor” is a young boy whose parents have refused to pull the plug on his life support system.

In his posting on the Health Ministry’s website, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the woman was admitted into the Sibu hospital on October 12 after she complained of weakness in both of her legs.

She had complained of the symptoms five days prior to her admission into the hospital.

Noor Hisham said she died six days later, at 11.30am on October 18.

He said a test conducted at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) on October 19 showed she had rabies encephalitis.

A state Health Department investigation into her pet dog was inconclusive, Noor Hisham said, though she lived near a landfill that had many strays scavenging on the waste there.

The investigation also found that she had been bitten by her pet dog at the end of 2018 and she never sought treatment for the bite.

The dog, which had no history of having anti-rabies vaccination, was not chained up and was mixing with the strays in the neighbourhood.

That pet was killed by angry neighbours when it bit another person.

However, Noor Hisham said no samples from the dog were ever sent to the state Veterinary Services Department for verification if the animal had rabies. – October 22, 2020.