The Dong Thap Provincial Center for Disease Control reported on 22/4 that this was the first rabies fatality in the province this year.

Son, who was divorced, lived alone in My Truong hamlet, My Tinh An commune. He owned a two to three-month-old dog that had been vaccinated against rabies. The dog remains alive and shows no signs of rabies virus infection.

My Tinh An commune authorities confirmed no rabid pets were detected in the area over the past month.

Son's routine involved collecting dog meat from various slaughterhouses (locations unspecified) in My Tho ward, Dong Thap province, and Tay Ninh province for processing. A week before his death, he was hospitalized at Tien Giang General Hospital with dizziness, numbness, and weakness on one side of his body. Doctors initially diagnosed him with a neurological disorder and hypertension.

His condition rapidly deteriorated, however, exhibiting classic rabies symptoms such as hydrophobia and difficulty breathing when drinking water. Two days later, he was transferred to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, where tests confirmed the presence of the rabies virus. His family requested to take him home, and he died two nights prior.

A representative from the Dong Thap Provincial Center for Disease Control stated, "The most probable source of infection was contact with blood and secretions from rabid dog meat, supplied by slaughterhouses, through abrasions on the patient's skin."

Dong Thap province has recorded 4 rabies outbreaks in animals since the beginning of the year.

Hoang Nam.