Donetsk, Nov 2 – DAN. The rabies incidence in the first nine months of 2020 reduced by almost a third compared to 2019, the Ministry of Agricultural and Industrial Policy and Food said.
"Donetsk State Veterinary Laboratory received 57 samples of animals' pathological material for rabies tests; 25 samples returned positive, that is 12 cases fewer that it was reported last year," the report reads.
The majority of infected animals are cats, followed by dogs. Two cases of bovine rabies were also revealed, as well as one case of muskrat rabies. Last year dogs constituted the major part of incidence.
Most cases were revealed in Donetsk, Makeyevka, Kharzysk, Gorlovka, Enakievo, Yasinovataya, Novoazovsk and Telmanovo districts.
Rabies (or lyssa, or hydrophobia) is a viral disease, causing inflammation of the brain in humans and other mammals. Rabies may spread through bites and exposure to saliva; the virus then spreads towards the central nervous system, slight or partial paralysis, anxiety, insomnia, confusion, agitation, abnormal behavior, paranoia, terror, and hallucinations, progressing to delirium, and coma. The World Health Organization reports 55 thousand people dying of rabies annually. *ot