Philippine dog diners under watch over rabies fear

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

Medics in the Philippines are monitoring 13 people who ate rabies-infected dog meat, officials said Monday.

The group of nine adults and four children are under observation following an investigation of a suspected rabies case on the outskirts of Zamboanga City in the south of the country.

Sheila Covarrubias, spokeswomen for the local authority, told The Anadolu Agency that the 13 had submitted themselves for "post-exposure treatment" and were being monitored for any reaction to eating the infected meat. They have not shown any signs of infection.

Veterinarian Mario Arriola said consuming rabies-infected meat could be "fatal if no medication is given immediately."

The case came to light after officials investigated the unusual death of a dog in Cabatangan village.

Covarrubias said: "The head of the infected dog was earlier submitted to the City Veterinarian Office for testing. Upon evidence of singeing, which indicated that the meat from the dog was prepared and handled for food, a veterinary team was sent to validate the information."

The consumption of dog meat is common in the northern Philippines and many northerners have settled in Zamboanga City. As well as eating the cooked meat, untreated blood is also drunk as it is thought to have health and aphrodisiac effects.

According to the Rabies Alliance, the preparation and ingestion of raw meat from a rabid animal is high risk and there have been cases of rabies transmission to butchers handling infected meat.

Prof. Belgin Sarimehmetoglu, of Ankara University's veterinary faculty, said the rabies virus could be killed by boiling meat. She added: "The infection... most probably happened during the shredding of the dog's meat. There is a practice called 'look but don't touch' for an animal that is considered to have rabies."

Rabies is widespread in the Philippines and last year was the first year in which no human rabies deaths were reported.

* Anadolu Agency correspondent Satuk Bugra Kutlugun contributed to this story from Ankara.