Norwegian woman dies from rabies after Philippines puppy bite – BBC News

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Birgitte Kallestad

A Norwegian lady has died after contracting rabies from a stray pet in the Philippines.

Birgitte Kallestad, 24, became on vacation with pals as soon as they found the pet on a avenue, her family acknowledged in an announcement.

The pet is thought to bear infected her when it bit her after they took it relief to their resort.

She fell ill soon after returning to Norway, and died on Monday on the clinical institution where she labored.

It is the major rabies-connected death in Norway for greater than 200 years.

“Our dear Birgitte loved animals,” acknowledged her family. “Our apprehension is that this is in a position to perhaps perhaps happen to others who bear a warmth heart fancy her”.

Rabies is treatable nevertheless left untreated, it will place off a lifestyles-threatening an infection of the mind and worried machine in other folks.

The illness kills thousands of folks yearly, largely in Asia and Africa, where it’s prevalent.

Norway’s government doesn’t salvage rabies vaccinations compulsory for citizens travelling to the Philippines, nevertheless Ms Kallestad’s family has now referred to as for a commerce in the law.

“If we can cease this, the death of our sunbeam can put others,” the family acknowledged.

No-one from Norway’s public health physique became straight on hand for comment.

What’s rabies?

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• Preliminary signs can consist of alarm, headaches and fever

• As the illness progresses, there would possibly perhaps also honest be hallucinations and respiratory failure

• Spasms of the muscles broken-down for swallowing salvage it delicate for the patient to drink

• The incubation length between being infected and showing signs is between three and 12 weeks

• Whenever you are bitten, scratched or licked by an animal it’s in all probability you’ll perhaps perhaps like to scrub the spoil or remark of exposure with so a lot of cleaning soap and water and demand clinical advice with out delay

• As soon as signs bear developed, rabies is type of repeatedly fatal

• Ahead of signs salvage, rabies may be handled with a direction of vaccine – right here’s “extraordinarily efficient” when given promptly after a bite – along with rabies immunoglobulin if required

• Yearly, greater than 15m other folks worldwide web a put up-bite vaccination and right here’s estimated to discontinuance heaps of of thousands of deaths nevertheless efficient therapy is no longer readily on hand to those in need
• Pre-exposure immunisation is recommended for of us in sure high-menace occupations and for travellers to rabies-affected, a long way off areas

Source: Public Successfully being England/World Successfully being Group