Countries with rabies after woman dies post holiday

Rabies can be fatal if it is not treated immediately (Picture: Getty Images)

Yvonne Ford, 59, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, had what has been described as ‘light contact’ with the stray dog on her trip to the North African country in February.

But two weeks ago, her family said she developed a headache, and later ‘couldn’t walk, talk, sleep or swallow’.

So, if you’ve got a holiday booked this summer, you should be aware of the areas at risk, the symptoms — and how to avoid contracting the disease.

How is rabies spread and is it contagious?

According to the NHS, rabies is a rare but serious infection. It is usually contracted from the bite or scratch of an infected animal, typically mammals, such as dogs, bats, raccoons and foxes.

Alongside being bitten or scratched, rabies can also be contracted if an infected animal licks your eyes, nose, or mouth, or an open wound.

The disease is caught from infected animals (Picture: Getty Images)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that dog bites and scratches cause 99% of human rabies cases. And, once the virus infects the central nervous system and symptoms appear, the disease is fatal in almost 100% of cases.

However, rabies is not contagious from person to person. That means someone who is infected cannot pass the disease on to another human.

Full list of countries where rabies is prevalent: A-Z

• Algeria – high risk

• Andaman and Nicobar Islands – high risk

• Angola – high risk

• Argentina – high risk

• Armenia – high risk

• Azerbaijan – high risk

• Bahrain – low risk

• Bangladesh – high risk

• Belize – high risk

• Benin – high risk

• Bhutan – high risk

• Bolivia – high risk

• Borneo – high risk

• Bosnia and Herzegovina – high risk

• Botswana – high risk

• Brazil – high risk

• Brunei Darussalam – low risk

• Bulgaria – low risk but foxes are high risk

• Burkina Faso – high risk

• Burma – high risk

• Burundi – high risk

• Cambodia – high risk

• Cameroon – high risk

• Canada – low risk but foxes, skunks and racoons are high risk

• Central African Republic – high risk

• Ceuta (north African territory of Spain) – high risk

• Chad – high risk

• Chile – low risk

• Colombia – high risk

• Comoros – high risk

• Congo (Republic) – high risk

• Congo (Democratic Republic of) – high risk

• Costa Rica – high risk

• Côte d’Ivoire – high risk

• Cuba – high risk

• Czechia, within 50km border Poland/Slovakia – low risk, foxes high risk

• Democratic Republic of the Congo – high risk

• Djibouti – high risk

• Dominican Republic – high risk

• East Timor – high risk

• Ecuador – high risk

• El Salvador – high risk

• Equatorial Guinea – high risk

• Eritrea – high risk

• Estonia – low risk

• Ethiopia – high risk

• French Guiana – high risk

• Gabon – high risk

• Gambia – high risk

• Georgia – high risk

• Ghana – high risk

• Grenada – low risk

• Guatemala – high risk

• Guinea – high risk

• Guinea-Bissau – high risk

• Guyana – high risk

• Haiti – high risk

• Honduras – high risk

• Hong Kong – low risk

• Hungary – low risk, but foxes are high risk

• India – high risk

• Indonesia – high risk

• Iran – high risk

• Iraq – high risk

• Jan Mayen and Svalbard (Norway) – high risk

• Jordan – high risk

• Kazakhstan – high risk

• Kenya – high risk

• North Korea – high risk

• South Korea – high risk

• Kosovo – high risk

• Kuwait – low risk

• Kyrgyzstan – high risk

• Laos – high risk

• Latvia – low risk, but foxes are high risk

• Lesotho – high risk

• Liberia – high risk

• Libya – high risk

• Lithuania – high risk

• Macau SAR – high risk

• Macedonia – high risk

• Madagascar – high risk

• Malawi – high risk

• Mali – high risk

• Margarita Island – high risk

• Mauritania – high risk

• Melilla (north African territory of Spain) – high risk

• Mexico – high risk

• Moldova – high risk

• Mongolia – high risk

• Montenegro – high risk

• Montserrat – high risk

• Mozambique – high risk

• Myanmar – high risk

• Namibia – high risk

• Nepal – high risk

• Nicaragua – high risk

• Niger – high risk

• Nigeria – high risk

• Oman – high risk

• Pakistan – high risk

• Palestine – high risk

• Panama – high risk

• Paraguay – high risk

• Peru – high risk

• Philippines – high risk

• Puerto Rico – high risk

• Qatar – low risk

• Romania – high risk

• Russian Federation – high risk

• Rwanda – high risk

• Sao Tome and Principe – low risk

• Saudi Arabia – high risk

• Senegal – high risk

• Serbia – high risk

• Sierra Leone – high risk

• Slovenia – low risk, but foxes are high risk

• Somalia – high risk

• South Africa – high risk

• South Sudan – high risk

• Spain (north African territories of Ceuta and Melilla) – high risk

• Sri Lanka – high risk

• Sudan – high risk

• Suriname – high risk

• Svalbard – high risk

• Swaziland – high risk

• Taiwan – low risk

• Tajikistan – high risk

• Tanzania – high risk

• Thailand – high risk

• Tibet – high risk

• Timor-Leste – high risk

• Togo – high risk

• Trinidad and Tobago – low risk

• Tunisia – high risk

• Turkmenistan – high risk

• Uganda – high risk

• Ukraine – high risk

• United Arab Emirates – low risk

• United Kingdom – no risk in animals but low risk in bats

• United States of America – low risk but foxes, skunks and racoons are high risk

• Uruguay – high risk

• Venezuela – high risk

• Vietnam – high risk

• Western Sahara – high risk

• Yemen – high risk

• Zambia – high risk

• Zanzibar – high risk

• Zimbabwe – high risk

Tips to avoid rabies abroad

The NHS advises tourists to seek health advice at least eight weeks before travelling to a country with a high risk of rabies.

The health service also advises speaking to a travel health clinic before your trip, as they may recommend a vaccination against rabies. You’ll have to pay for this.

Treatment can involve a vaccine (Picture: Getty Images)

They will likely suggest a vaccine if you’re travelling somewhere where hospitals and clinics are scarce, if you’re travelling to a country where you’ll come into contact with infected animals, if you’ll be spending a lot of time outdoors, or if you’re travelling for over a month.

If you haven’t been vaccinated and get bitten, scratched or licked while abroad, the NHS advises you to seek medical help immediately.

You should also wash any bites or scratches with soap and water as soon as possible.

Treatment for rabies

If you’ve been scratched or bitten by a potentially infected animal, a doctor will decide if you need treatment.

If they deem it necessary, you’ll likely receive two or more doses of the rabies vaccine. Or, a liquid rabies medicine called immunoglobulin will be administered into the wound. You’ll only receive the latter if you’ve not had the rabies vaccine before, or you have a weak immune system.

Time is of the essence: if administered quickly, the treatment is effective at preventing the disease.

Finally, if you’ve been treated for rabies abroad, the NHS advises you to contact your GP back in the UK as soon as you return. They will assess if further treatment is required.

Rabies symptoms: How long is the incubation period?

Warning signs of rabies include:

• numbness or tingling where you were bitten or scratched
• hallucinations
• feeling anxious or energetic
• difficulty swallowing or breathing
• being unable to move (paralysis)

Symptoms usually appear between three to 12 weeks after exposure.

Dog bites and scratches cause 99% of human rabies cases (Picture: Getty Images)

However, the incubation period – the time it takes for an infection to develop after a person has been exposed to a disease – can range from days, months to years.

The time it takes for rabies to develop depends on how much of the virus you’ve been exposed to and the location of the wound.

Rabies mortality rates

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that around 59,000 people die from rabies in over 150 countries each year. Of these cases, 95% occur in Africa and Asia.

Rabies is more common in rural and poor populations, with around half of the cases being children under the age of 15.

Once symptoms develop, it is almost universally fatal.

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