Rabies outbreak leaves one dead

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: Fifty-four people have been infected with rabies in Ende regency, East Nusa Tenggara, over the past several weeks, with one death.

To stop the spread of the virus, government officials are vaccinating thousands of dogs and monkeys, and killing those animals suspected of carrying the virus, said M. Littik, the head of the provincial animal husbandry office.

There was an outbreak of rabies in Lembata regency in January that also killed one person, M. Littik said on Thursday.

Rabies has killed 128 people in the past eight years in eight regencies in the province, including Manggarai, Sikka, Ngada and Ende. -- JP