A man who was bitten by a dog on Dec 23 last year and who treated the bite by himself, died of rabies at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) on Tuesday.

According to a statement from the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee, the victim was from Taman Sri Makmur in the Matang area near Kuching.

According to the statement, laboratory test results released yesterday confirmed that the victim had succumbed to the dog-borne infection.

It said: “The 26-year-old man had not sought medical attention after being bitten by the dog, but instead nursed the wound using medicine he bought from a pharmacy.”

However, in March the victim experienced muscle aches, numbness and headaches and only then he decided to consult a private clinic on March 28 and 29.

On April 2, his condition worsened and he was brought to a government clinic which referred him to SGH on the same day.

The victim presented symptoms of hydrophobia, headache, hallucinations and weak limbs.

Since June 30, 2017, to April 5, 2018, Sarawak recorded eight rabies cases with seven fatalities.

Only one rabies patient has been discharged from hospital since the outbreak.

Thirty areas in the state have been declared hotspots for rabies-infection, the latest being Kampung Gawang Empili in Simunjan in February.

The Serian Division had the most number of rabies-infected cases at 21, followed by Kuching (four), Samarahan (three) and Sri Aman and Sarikei (one each).

Meanwhile, when contacted, a personnel from the State Disaster Management Committee advised the public to immediately cleanse dog-bite wound in running water for 15 minutes and to seek immediate attention at the nearest medical facility.