Jembrana Housewife Dies of Suspected Rabies After Stray Cat Bite

A housewife from Tukadaya Village, Melaya District, Jembrana Regency, Bali, named Ni Ketut Sari, has died from suspected rabies after being attacked and bitten by a stray cat. The fatal cat bite incident began in April 2026. At the time, Sari was hanging laundry in front of her house when she was attacked by a stray cat and bitten on her right calf. The victim initially ignored the bite wound and was reluctant to seek medical attention. A month after the bite, precisely on 23 May 2026, Sari suddenly fell ill and was immediately rushed to the nearest community health centre before eventually being referred to Negara General Hospital as her condition continued to deteriorate. At the hospital, classic rabies symptoms began to afflict Sari. She experienced intense fear at the sight of water and became agitated whenever exposed to a breeze. She was pronounced dead on 24 May at Negara General Hospital, and her remains were cremated on 28 May 2026. This incident is the first human rabies case to occur in Tukadaya Village, Melaya District. The deceased leaves behind a husband and two children who are still in their first year of senior high school and first year of primary school. By the time the victim’s remains had been cremated, her family had not received any preventive medical treatment, including anti-rabies vaccine injections. The Head of the Livestock, Animal Health, and Veterinary Public Health Division of Jembrana, I Gusti Ngurah Putu Sugiarta, only received an official notification from the Jembrana Health Office on Wednesday, 3 June 2026. ‘Because we only just received the letter, an emergency vaccination was carried out today as a preventive measure,’ Sugiarta stated on Thursday, 4 June 2026. Officers immediately deployed to conduct emergency vaccinations on 20 dogs and one cat within a 3-kilometre radius of the victim’s home. In addition, officers took samples from 4 dogs belonging to local residents to be laboratory tested at the Denpasar Veterinary Centre to ascertain the spread of the rabies virus. ‘Today, vaccinations were carried out in the bite case area, and brain samples were sent from 4 dogs,’ Sugiarta explained. Based on graphical data from January to June 2026, Jembrana Regency has recorded 33 cases of bites from rabies-positive dogs. The case involving Ni Ketut Sari is the first human death suspected to be caused by rabies this year.