The Travel Doctor
Traveller's medical & vaccination centre
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Travel Doctor TMVC provides the latest health and travel alerts, including updates from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
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Rabies in Central Asia
Friday, 2 January, 2009
Government authorities have reported that three people have died from rabies in Chimkent, southern Kazakhstan since October 2008. While rabies is a risk throughout the country Chimkent, near the border with Kirghistan, is the worst affected area. At the same time Tajik medical authorities are concerned over increasing number of rabies cases in that country. According to Navrouz Jaffarov, head of the center for sanitary and epidemiologic supervision within the Ministry of Health 13 cases of rabies have been registered in the country over the first 10 months of this year [2008], which is 7 cases more than in the same period of last year.
Rabies is transmitted by the bite – or scratch – of an infected mammal, most frequently a canine but other mammals including bats can carry the disease. The risk is very small for short-tem travellers to main centres but it must be noted that the availability of vaccines cannot be relied on in smaller areas. Those who are going to work in these countries should consider having the course of preventive vaccination before travelling.
