/ 22 June 1999

CHILDREN TOO POOR FOR ANTI-RABIES TREATMENT

FOURTEEN Zambian children face death by brain seizure after a dog suspected to have rabies bit them during a two day rampage in the country’s central province of Kabwe. The only way to avoid the fatal disease after exposure is immediate and relatively expensive treatment. “Victims of the mad dog’s rampage are in despair, as they are completely unable to afford the cost of the anti-rabies treatment necessary to prevent development of the invariably fatal illness,” said British Airways Travel Clinic spokesperson, Dr Andrew Jamieson, on Tuesday. According to the Times of Zambia, police were called in to shoot the animal, but were reluctant to open fire for fear of hitting spectators. The dog, which belonged to a Kabwe widow, was finally stoned to death by villagers.