ILOILO – Health authorities are probing the death of a 33-year-old man from Dingle town whose symptoms resembled rabies, despite no animal bite history and a negative laboratory result for the virus.
“The province of Iloilo has reported a new case of rabies from the municipality of Dingle. Currently, we have two cases, with the second being a suspected rabies infection involving a 33-year-old male,” Rodney Labis, chief of the Iloilo Provincial Health Office’s Health Service Delivery Division, confirmed.
The patient first complained of shoulder and abdominal pain on July 12 and was given medication at a local hospital.
His condition worsened in the following days, manifesting classic rabies-like symptoms such as difficulty drinking water, hallucinations, irritability, and eventually breathing problems. He was readmitted on July 17 and died the same night.
Hospital staff suspected rabies and submitted specimens for confirmatory testing. An investigation later revealed the patient was never bitten by a dog or cat. However, in May, a stray dog had attacked their pet and later died. The victim was among those who buried the stray dog.
Despite these circumstances, confirmatory test results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Manila, released on Aug. 8, showed his saliva was negative for rabies.
“This is indeed an unusual situation. The attending physician suspected rabies due to the lack of alternative diagnoses. At this point, we can only rely on the patient’s medical history and clinical evaluations, as the body was buried, which rules out testing,” Labis explained.
As the case remains under the Department of Health’s surveillance system as a suspected rabies case, 10 individuals who had close contact with the patient have been given post-exposure prophylaxis. The Dingle local government is also monitoring residents and vaccinating others who may have been exposed to the stray dog.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian has coordinated with the local government to strengthen rabies control efforts in the area./PN
