RESIDENTS in a town in southern Central African Republic brandished sticks this week to beat off dogs, after two people died of rabies after being fatally bitten, national radio reported on Thursday. “With a number of dogs spreading the disease, the local population has been forced to move around with sticks to avoid being bitten and catching rabies,” said a radio journalist from Ngoto, some 200 kilometres southwest of the capital Bangui. An unknown number of people bitten in the town were suffering from the disease, the journalist said. “Many injured people have tried every means to get care. Health officials in Ngoto hope authorities in Bangui will intervene to stop the spread of the disease,” the journalist said. Local officials said rabid dogs which are caught would be systematically killed. – AFP