20 Children Bitten by Mad Dogs in Maungdaw

About 20 children from Maungdaw in western Burma’s Arakan State have been hospitalized after being bitten by mad dogs, causing panic amongst their parents as there is not enough anti-rabies vaccine in the hospital.

“There is only enough vaccine for 4 children in the government hospital, so we are really worried”, said one of the fathers of the children.

He said the anti-rabies vaccine is not available in private pharmacies, shops or clinics. Only the government hospital has it.

The children are said to have been bitten by different mad dogs on the same day last Wednesday – 8 children from Sanpya and Rwathit Ward and 12 children from the Vesali and Four-Mile villages.

Narinjara has contacted the hospital over telephone, but the official on duty declined to give any information about the children.

“Our in-charge has gone to attend a meeting and is not in the hospital now, please contact him when he comes back here. We cannot tell you anything because we are not allowed to reply to any media”, said the official.

Despite this Narinjara continued to contact the hospital over telephone for official confirmation before writing this story, but no answer was received.

However a source from inside the hospital confirmed that the children bitten by the mad dogs are still undergoing treatment in the hospital.

“We are now giving treatment to the children, but we do not have enough vaccines. Surprisingly we found that the dogs have bitten most of children on their faces and heads”, said the source.

A private clinic in Four-Mile village also said that the children from the village were sent to the hospital after being bitten by the mad dogs. According to the residents in those wards and villages in Maungdaw, the mad dogs that had bitten the children were already killed, but most of the peoples in the town are still worried about this unusual danger as there are still many stray dogs in the town and local authorities are neglecting to act upon the matter.
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