June 25, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 20, 1429

CHITRAL, June 24: Another person bitten by a mad dog died in the Darosh Tehsil Hospital on Tuesday, increasing the death toll from dog-bite cases to four during the past two days.

Local people and officials said the victims, one of them a woman, who were admitted to the hospital a couple of days ago, had been given anti-rabies vaccines the health department had purchased from the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, but the vaccines proved ineffective and spurious.

Executive district officer (health) Dr Sher Qayyum confirmed the deaths from dog bites and said the vaccines had been purchased from the National Institute of Health recently. After the death of the four people, he said, new vaccines had been demanded from the NIH to save other affected people.

The exact number of affected people could not be ascertained but, sources said, 13 persons were said to be under treatment in the hospital and homes. The health department has advised affected people to report to the Darosh hospital immediately for proper vaccination and treatment.

A source said the type of anti-rabies vaccine administered to the patients had been abandoned by the World Health Organisation since long.

The number of stray dogs has grown alarmingly in Darosh and Chitral towns during the past couple of months because the Tehsil Municipal Administration of Chitral has failed to initiate any operation against them on repeated requests of people, residents said.—Correspondent