Between 2016 and 2018, the number of rabies reports doubled from 163 to 342, Eurocross noted. In the first half of 2022, 116 reports were received. Most come from Colombia, Mexico, Thailand and Costa Rica. “In half of the cases, this is because they have fed or handled an animal.”
According to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), most Dutch patients with rabies contract the virus abroad. According to the health institute in the Netherlands, five people have died of rabies in the past forty years. Worldwide, about 50,000 people die from the disease every year.
Medication poorly available
Anyone who may have come into contact with rabies should be treated immediately, Eurocross says. “This is essential, because in an outbreak, the infection is always fatal.” In some holiday countries, medication against rabies is not readily available, so that the trip has to be stopped abruptly.
“A good way to avoid hassle is to vaccinate beforehand,” says Floriana Luppino, doctor at Eurocross. If the traveler is subsequently bitten by an animal with rabies, then only a booster vaccine is needed. Eurocross also recommends avoiding contact with animals in countries where rabies occurs, such as some countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and certain parts of Central and South America. “Not only dogs, cats and monkeys can carry rabies, but bats too.”
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