Rampaging dog bites 30 persons in 2 villages

RAJAHMUNDRY: In a chilling incident, a dog, suspected to be suffering from rabies, went on the rampage biting as many as 30 persons in two contiguous villages in Peddapuram mandal in East Godavari district in the early hours of Thursday.The incident created a scare in the district as it has already earned the dubious distinction of being the rabies capital of the state.Among the victims, eight were from Marlava village and 22 from Kadrakota.They were sleeping in their houses when the dog attacked them. People in the second village later killed the dog. All the 30 victims were administered anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) at the Kandrokta primary health centre. Later they were shifted to the government general hospital at Kakinada for better treatment on the direction of the district collector. When contacted, GGH superintendent Dr MBR Sharma has said that all the victims were given necessary treatment and that their condition was stable. Doctors are keeping a close watch on all the 30 persons, he said.In the recent past, as many as eight persons died of rabies while undergoing treatment at the GGH-Kakinada and the Government Headquarters Hospital (GHQH) at Rajahmundry in the recent past. With the spurt in rabies deaths, the state government constituted a committee of officials to inquire into the deaths. The government opened round-the-clock special ARV counters at GGH and GHQH.Youth dies after doctors deny him treatmentA 28-year-old man, Srinivas , of Bhogapuram village in Pithapuram Rural mandal, who had been bitten by a dog four months ago, died at his home on Thursday.After being attacked by a dog at Denduluru village in West Godavari district, he took the ARV but neglected to take further treatment. When his health condition became serious, his relatives took him to the government general hospital at Kakinada on Thursday but the doctors, maintaining that he was not suffering from rabies, sent him back.