India

CHENNAI: A stray dog spread panic in the Royapuram area on Tuesday evening, biting 29 people in less than an hour on busy GA Road before it was beaten to death by locals who suspect it may have been rabid.Witnesses said the dog was lying on the road in the largely commercial area in north Chennai, when it suddenly attacked pedestrians, biting their ankles and feet.Some of the victims said the dog did not let go even when they tried to shake it off.The Greater Chennai Corporation has sent the dead dog to the Madras Veterinary College for postmortem.

"The dog could be rabies infected as it has shown unprovoked aggression.

We will get the test report in two days," said GCC veterinary officer Dr Kamal Hussain.Of those attacked, 24 had category three bites, which means deep cuts and bleeding with possible saliva transfer from dog to human.

Ten of the injured were school children.

Some senior citizens fell and hurt their heads too.

All the injured were admitted overnight to the nearby Government Stanley Medical College and Hospital.

Dr S Chandrasekhar, head of department, medicine, Stanley GH, said "We washed the lower limbs of all victims and gave them anti-rabies immunoglobulin medication to prevent infection from spreading to the brain.

Following this, we gave an anti-rabies vaccine for which they have to come again for four more doses." Following the incident, the Greater Chennai Corporation rounded up 32 dogs from the area, including six puppies, and has kept them under observation for rabies.M Balagangatharathilagar, veterinary medicine specialist and TANUVAS professor, said victims of unprovoked dog bites should get anti-rabies immunoglobulin serum and vaccine doses within 12 hours.

"Street dogs are usually in packs and only chase vehicles in groups, if they find smell of other dogs' on the wheels or have previous memories of harm.

If they are alone and attack somebody unprovoked the possibility of them being rabies positive is higher," he said.The professor said rabies tests can only be done on dead dogs through hippocampus fluorescent antibody tests where a part of the brain is removed to check for the virus.

"In living dogs, a cornea smear test or saliva test can be done, but this is not always decisive as viral load may be less here," he added.





Unlimited Portal Access + Monthly Magazine - 12 issues-Publication from Jan 2021


Buy Our Merchandise (Peace Series)

 


Contribute US to Start Broadcasting



It's Voluntary! Take care of your Family, Friends and People around You First and later think about us. Its Fine if you dont wish to contribute and if you wish to contribute then think about the Homeless first and Feed them. We can survive with your wishes too :-). You can Buy our Merchandise too which are of the finest quality.

Debit/Credit/UPI

UPI/Debit/Credit

Paytm


STRIPE





53