by Rachelle Nessia

Dumaguete City (16 April) -- As early as the first quarter of this year, two human deaths due to rabies have already been recorded in Negros Oriental.

This was disclosed during the recent Provincial Rabies Consultative Conference held at the Legislative Building, this city.

The victims came from Tanjay City and San Jose town, revealed Capitol Information Officer Adrian Sedillo.

With a population of 1.3 million in the province, Sedillo said that the two human deaths this year is alarming as there is a risk that there will be more rabies-related deaths within the next eight months.

Records show that three persons died from rabies in 2008 and four in 2007.

In line with this, Gov. Emilio C. Macias II is urging local government units to focus more on the preventive side of the anti-rabies campaign rather than vaccination.

The campaign aims to make Negros Oriental rabies-free by 2010.

The governor, during the conference attended by municipal health officers, provincial health officials, veterinarians and agriculturists, described rabies as preventable and that it is a crime to neglect the preventive aspects of the disease.

He is also pushing to expand the campaign and make it island-wide due to the accessibility between Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental.

In the same conference, Department of Agriculture-7 Research and Regulatory Regional Technical Director Dr. Eduardo B. Alama admitted that the implementation of the anti-rabies campaign in region is very low, in view of the country's aim to be rabies-free by 2020.

Alama disclosed that Region 7 is among the top 10 regions in the country with high cases of rabies-related deaths.

Around 70% of dog bite victims in the country are below 15 years old and mostly male.

He also said that 50% of the rabies cases recorded worldwide comes from Asia.