US

Emergency rabies vaccines sent to Yushu

Updated: 2010-04-21 00:00

YUSHU, Qinghai — An emergency dispatch of 200 doses of rabies vaccine arrived in northwest China’s quake-hit area on Tuesday, as more than 10 people have been bitten by Tibetan mastiffs, according to the health department of the rescue headquarters.

The earthquake left many Tibetan mastiffs homeless, as 90 percent of the houses collapsed in Gyegu town of the Tibet autonomous prefecture of Yushu in Qinghai province.

Seven or eight soldiers doing rescue work have been bitten by mastiffs, said a military medical spokesman.

The injured previously only got tetanus injections, as no rabies vaccines were available, he said.

The 200 doses of vaccines sent from the provincial capital of Xining will be given to the injured for free, said Deng Er’tai, an official with the provincial disease prevention and control center.

The center will keep track of the vaccines in the quake-hit area and replenish the reserve to ensure the wounded can receive timely treatment, he said.

Feng Haifeng, president of a local hospital in Yushu, said homeless dogs are everywhere and many people have been bitten.

“One woman was even bitten on her face yesterday. We could only clean her wounds with medicinal alcohol because we did not have any rabies vaccine,” Feng said. Some of those bitten by dogs  have been transported to Xining for treatment.

According to medical experts, people bitten by dogs should get the first shot of the rabies vaccine as soon as possible.

The Tibetan mastiff can be very aggressive when guarding its territory. The dogs have sometimes attacked rescuers looking for survivors in the debris of their owners’ homes, said Yan Xilong, an expert on Tibetan mastiffs.

A China Daily reporter was also attacked while trying to talk to a Tibetan woman on top piles of rubble in a small residential community in  Gyegu on Saturday.

A hungry-looking Tibetan mastiff rushed towards him. The reporter swung his bag at the dog with all his might. Luckily, several residents saw what was happening and arrived in the nick of time to stop the dog.

 

Xinhua - China Daily