Surge in dog bites and sporadic rabies deaths across Andhra……

Vijayawada/New Delhi: Surge in dog bites, and sporadic rabies deaths across Andhra Pradesh, making it a public health emergency.

The Supreme Court in its recent pan- India ruling has clarified that stray dogs picked up by authorities are to be sterilized and immunized, and then released back to the same area and only animals found to be rabid or overly aggressive are to be kept off the streets. The ruling has also banned the public distribution of food to dogs and called for the creation of designated areas for feeding.

I think it’s not a very thoughtful verdict as the sheer number of dogs overwhelms the limited funding and veterinary infrastructure in the world’s most populous country, meaning sterilization rates cannot keep pace with the dogs’ rapid breeding cycle.
Dogs are the source of most human rabies deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and contribute up to 99% of all rabies transmissions to humans. Also India is endemic for rabies, accounting for 36% of the world’s rabies deaths.

The escalating stray dog menace in the state has plunged residents into fear. According to the health department in Kurnool, 13,518 bites were recorded from January to July 2025, while Kadapa reported 14,376 cases in two-and-a-half years, with two rabies deaths.
Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts logged 2,866 and 3,107 bites, respectively, predominantly from street dogs.
Across East Godavari, West Godavari, and Eluru, the situation remains dire. East Goda- vari reported 4,003 dog bite cases in 2024 and 1,987 in 2025 so far, with two deaths in the past three years.
West Godavari logged 24,121 dog bites and 7,471 pet dog bites in 2024, with 9,576 and 7,116 respectively in 2025, while Eluru recorded 9,570 cases in 2024 and 4,027 in 2025.

The stray dog population, estimated at 2.5 lakh in East Godavari (with 80,000 pet dogs), has grown unchecked since 2022 due to stalled Animal Birth Control (ABC) operations, hampered by funding shortages and technical issues.

North Andhra districts are witnessing an alarming rise in dog bite cases and rabies-related deaths, with official data highlighting significant gaps in stray dog management and sterilisation measures.

According to Health Department records, 11,799 dog bite cases and four human rabies deaths were reported in Visakhapatnam district between 2024 and July 31, 2025. In Vizianagaram district, 7,545 dog bite cases and six rabies deaths have been recorded up to August 19 this year, while Srikakulam district reported a staggering 57,229 dog bite cases over 16 months, from April 2024 to July 2025. In Vizianagaram, data reveals a steady rise in dog bite incidents over the past four years including 12,767 cases and four rabies deaths in 2024; 10,662 cases and one death in 2023; 9,321 cases and one death in 2022; and 8,903 cases in 2021.

Srikakulam district has reported 57,229 dog bite cases from April 2024 to July 2025, with children under 15 years forming. more than 50 percent of the victims.

Recently in my published scientific report titled “Epidemic of Dog Bites In India ” in the Asian Journal of Infectious Diseases acclaimed Infectious Disease I have pointed that Telangana witnesses nearly 300 dog bites per day and has in the past three years alone reported approximately 3.4 lakh dog bites, based on the statistical data available with the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and National Rabies Control Program (NRCP).

The number of dog bites in Telangana per day could be more because a majority of the dog bite victims go to private health facilities for the rabies vaccine and treatment. There is no system in place where information on dog bites is shared by private health care facilities with the state health department.
Most dog bite victims being children, a majority of them are left with a childhood trauma that they are ill-equipped to deal with. All through their entire lives, such individuals live with Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) silently, with no concerted support from state-run health care facilities.

*Dr. Narresh Purohit-MD, DNB, DIH, MHA, MRCP(UK), is an Epidemiologist, and Advisor-National Communicable Disease Control Program of Govt. of India, Madhya Pradesh and several state Health organizations.    He’s  the Principle Investigator – Association of Studies In Behavioural Science),                 Dr. Purohit is also Advisor-National Mental Health Program .