Islamabad, July 07, 2024 : A staggering 5,641 dog-bite cases were reported across Pakistan in just one week.
According to sources, Punjab led with 3,264 cases, followed by Sindh with 1,601 cases in reported dog-bite incidents.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded 615 cases, while Balochistan had 80 cases. Additionally, Azad Kashmir reported 75 cases and Gilgit-Baltistan recorded 6 cases, according to sources.
Last month, there was a shocking increase in dog bite cases, with 7,957 cases reported in one week across Pakistan.
In a significant development, the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) in Karachi introduced its own anti-rabies vaccine (ARV), named DowRab, for victims of dog bites in Sindh.
Reports indicate that approximately one million individuals in Pakistan are bitten by stray dogs annually, resulting in an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 deaths from rabies.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad states that the country requires over 2 million doses of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) each year, with a substantial portion imported from India.
Pakistan is currently facing a severe shortage of ARV due to pricing disputes.