Rabies

摘要

The Timor-Leste government reported to the World Health Organization on 22 March 2024, its first confirmed fatal human case of rabies. The country is currently classified as rabies-free. The case, from Pasabe Sub-Region, Oecusse, with a history of dog bite on 26 December 2023, went to a local health center on 20 March and died on 22 March 2024. During 2024, as of 24 April, a total of 95 exposures to dogs have been reported in Oecusse Municipality. Ten dogs were confirmed positive for rabies using rapid diagnostic tests. Out of the 95 exposures, seven had been bitten by confirmed rabid dogs.

The public health response is ongoing and includes vaccination of dogs, risk communication, training of healthcare workers on case management, active surveillance, and ensuring the availability of rabies vaccines and human rabies immunoglobulin. Based on the currently available information, the WHO assesses the risk posed by this event as high at the national level and low at regional and global levels.

詳細內容

On 22 March 2024, the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry, reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) its first confirmed fatal human case of rabies. The case is a 19-year-old female from Pasabe Sub-Region, Oecusse, formally known as the Special Administrative Region of Oe-Cússe Ambeno (RAEOA - Portuguese acronym). The case was confirmed by Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCT) at the National Health Laboratory in Timor-Leste on 22 March from a saliva sample taken prior to the individual’s death.On 20 March, the patient presented to a local health center with symptoms including high fever, vomiting, sore throat, cough, difficulty swallowing food, hydrophobia, photophobia, back pain, and neck stiffness. It was reported that she was bitten on the hands by a dog on 26 December 2023 in Oecusse. During the investigation, residents described the dog as very aggressive, and reported that it had not bitten anyone else. The dog died and was buried on 27 December 2023. The patient had not received rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) after the dog bite. On 21 March, she was transferred to Guido Valadares National Hospital (HNGV) in the capital city of Dili and died on 22 March 2024.As of 24 April 2024, a total of 95 exposures to dogs have been reported in Oecusse Municipality. The Tetanus Toxoid (TT) and Rabies PEP vaccines were administered to all. Rapid diagnostic tests have confirmed that ten dogs were infected with rabies. Out of the 95 individuals who were exposed to dogs, seven were bitten by dogs that were confirmed to have rabies. Among these cases, two individuals have completed their post-exposure prophylaxis vaccinations (as of 24 April 2024). It should be noted that Oecusse is an enclave of Timor-Leste located within Indonesia East Nusa Tenggara province (NTT) where between 1 January and 15 March 2024, six human rabies deaths have been recorded. In 2023, a total of 30 human rabies deaths were reported from NTT province.

影響地區

On
Timor
Leste Ministry
Health
Ministry
Agriculture
Fishery
Forestry
World Health Organization
Pasabe Sub

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