KARACHI: A man bitten by a dog in Larkana two months back died of rabies at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on Saturday morning, raising the total number of recorded deaths from the deadly infectious disease in the province to 14 this year.

The victim, married with five children, was a junkman in Nazar Mohalla, Larkana city.

“He reported to us late Friday night with symptoms highly suggestive of rabies including hydrophobia [fear of water],” said Dr Irfan Siddiqui heading the JPMC’s emergency department.

He added that the patient had fever for the past three days and no history of vaccine administration.

Deceased had no history of vaccination, doctor says

According to him, this was the current year’s fifth case at the JPMC.

Speaking to Dawn, the victim’s uncle said the family had spent Rs25,000 to bring him to the JPMC.

“It’s shock for the whole family. We took him to Civil Hospital, Larkana, when he developed a fever three days back. The hospital refused to treat him and asked us to take him to Karachi,” he said.

About the transport expenses, he said that they had been asked to pay Rs30,000 for the return journey.

Earlier, a 42-year-old woman from Jacobabad, who was bitten by a mongoose in her village, died of rabies at the Indus Hospital in Karachi.

‘JPMC sees 50 dog-bite cases daily’

“We daily see 50 new dog-bite cases and the same number of patients report for follow-up vaccine doses. A significant number of these cases are from Karachi’s peripheral areas, though we do get patients from posh areas such as Clifton and the DHA, too,” Dr Siddiqui said.

He feared that the number of dog-bite cases would likely increase in coming weeks.

“In hot summer days, dogs often rest under vehicles and get agitated when they are disturbed. Children are especially vulnerable as they play outside in the absence of their guardians,” he said.

Experts emphasised the need for public awareness, controlling the dog population humanely and making the right treatment available at hospitals.

While dog bites account for the majority of rabies cases, bites from potentially rabid wild animals can also transmit the virus. Early wound cleansing, timely rabies vaccination and administration of rabies immunoglobulin, if needed, can effectively prevent the disease that’s almost invariably fatal once clinical symptoms appear.

A significant number of rabies cases, experts believe, go unreported as patients use home remedies or turn to faith healers for “treatment”.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2026