Two neighborhoods quarantined due to rabies in western Turkey

BALIKESİR

CİHAN photo

Two neighborhoods in the western province of Balıkesir have been quarantined for six months following the detection of rabies in a dog that bit two cows, two dogs and several birds in the province’s Havran district.

The rabies virus was detected in the dog after it was shot dead with a rifle by the local residents of the Küçükdere and Büyükdere neighborhoods in Havran. The dog was said to be attacking other animals and thought to be carrying rabies before the shooting occurred.

The two cows along with the two dogs that had been bitten were euthanized, while signs warning about the quarantine were placed at the entries and exits of the two neighborhoods, Havran Food, Agriculture and Livestock Provincial Director Recep Özbudak said in a written statement.

“The Küçükdere and Büyükdere neighborhoods [in Havran] have been put under quarantine as a stray and aggressive dog was diagnosed with rabies in laboratory tests. Any entry and exits by animals have been suspended for six months in these neighborhoods. Two cows and two dogs that had been bitten by the dog were euthanized,” Özbudak said.

All stray cats and dogs in the two neighborhoods have been inoculated with the rabies vaccine, he said, adding that the rest of the animals in Havran would soon receive shots as well.

The incident came after a 4-year-old girl died of rabies in the Hacettepe University Medical School Hospital in Ankara on June 28. Hayrünnisa G. was bitten by a dog more than a month ago in the southern province of Hatay, but her family initially did not seek medical attention after mistakenly believing she had sustained injuries in a fall.