About 450 people in Dadi Khas and neighbouring Gobindpur villages in Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India, have been given rabies vaccine as a precaution after eating a festival offering made with milk from a cow suspected of having rabies, Ittefaq reported, citing The Indian Express.
The cow's owner, Navami Yadav, said it had looked ill for a day or two and got much worse on Tuesday; he did not know when a stray dog had bitten it. He consulted private veterinarians Dr Bechan Singh and Dr Hardev Yadav and a doctor at the Dadi Khas animal hospital. The vets suspected a dog bite; the cow then began barking like a dog and died on Tuesday evening. Officials have not yet confirmed whether it had rabies.
The cow's milk had also gone to two local shops and several families. As word of its death spread, about 50 people went to the local community health centre for vaccine. On Wednesday a team led by pharmacist Siddharth Singh held a camp in the village and vaccinated about 400 more by evening.
Gorakhpur's deputy chief medical officer, Dr Rajesh Kumar, said the cow was reported to have been bitten by a dog and 450 people had been vaccinated as a precaution because people were frightened. The milk had probably been boiled and turned into curd before the offering was made, he said, and 'boiling milk destroys the virus', so there is no need to panic.
Source: Ittefaq
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