South Africa reports 3 rabies cases through April 2024
All cases in young children
During the first four months of the year, South Africa’s National Institute for r Diseases (NICD) reported three cases of human rabies.
The cases were reported from the eThekwini Municipality, KZN (n=1) and the Ngqushwa Municipality, Amathole district, EC (n=1). A case involving a patient who was hospitalized in the Gauteng province, acquired the disease in Zimbabwe following an exposure in December 2023.
All cases involved children, aged 2, 5 and 7 years respectively.
For two cases reportedly no medical intervention was sought post-exposure, whilst the one case received incomplete regimen of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis. For the latter case, it is reported that rabies immunoglobulin and one dose of vaccine was administered following the exposure, but the vaccine course was not completed.
In 2023, 12 cases of human rabies were laboratory-confirmed in South Africa.
Rabies is a fatal but preventable and controllable viral zoonosis. Rabies remains a persistent health concern in South Africa, with dogs being the primary source of exposure for human infections. The disease is endemic across the country, with cases reported in both domesticated and wild species. Rabies in domestic dogs is especially prevalent in certain parts of the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Eastern Cape (EC), Mpumalanga, and Limpopo (LPP).