Srinagar, Sep 28 (KNO): In the past six months, around 6,000 bite victims, primarily from dog bites, have sought treatment at the Anti-Rabies Clinic at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital in Srinagar.
Officials informed the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the increasing dog population in the valley has led to a rise in human-dog conflicts, resulting in a spike in bite cases.
From April 01, 2024, to September 27, 2024, the clinic recorded 5,964 cases, including 3,015 dog bites and 2,679 cat exposures. The latter has been rising in recent years as more people adopt cats as pets, while nearly all dog bites are attributed to stray dogs.
"We receive nearly 1,000 animal bite cases every month at the Anti-Rabies Clinic this year," officials said. Last year, from April 2023 to March 2024, approximately 8,000 cases were reported.
Reviewing yearly data, an official said that from April 2015 to March 2016, there were 7,061 bite cases reported, followed by 5,832 from April 2016 to March 2017, and 6,802 from April 2017 to March 2018. Subsequent years saw variations: 6,397 cases from April 2018 to March 2019, 6,139 from April 2019 to March 2020, 4,808 from April 2020 to March 2021, 5,469 from April 2021 to March 2022, and 6,875 from April 2022 to March 2023. The clinic recorded a sharp increase to 8,652 cases from April 2023 to March 2024, and 5,964 cases so far this year.
In total, approximately 64,000 cases have been registered at the Anti-Rabies Clinic from April 2015 to September 2024. Dog bites remain a significant public health concern in Kashmir, with thousands affected and some cases leading to rabies.
Rabies is a universally fatal viral disease, causing approximately 59,000 human deaths annually worldwide, with 95% of cases occurring in Africa and Asia. Recently, the J&K Government declared rabies a notifiable disease—(KNO)