KUCHING: Rabies claimed its eighth life in Sarawak today, after a 11-year-old boy from Kampung Sebangkoi Baru, Simunjan district, was confirmed to have died from this disease.

Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (JPBN) in statement issued here said the boy, who was a pupil of a primary school in Simunjan, passed away at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) at 12.06pm today.

The test result on the clinical sample received from the Medical Research Institute in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (May 2) confirmed the boy was affected by the rabies virus.

JPBN said the victim showed signs and symptoms of rabies on April 18, and was brought by his parents to a private clinic before he was referred to Serian Hospital where he was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis (AGE).

However, his condition worsened and he was reported to have seizure attacks on April 22 before he was referred to SGH the next day for further treatment.

“This case was suspected to have bitten by a rabid dog or other animals infected by rabies. This is based on bite wounds on his body.

“However, his parents when interviewed could not confirm whether their son had any animal bite history,” said the statement.

The boy’s death also marked the third rabies fatality this year, after the deaths of a 59 year old man from Jalan Batu Kawa – Matang in January and a 26 year old man from Taman Sri Makmur Batu 6 Matang in April.

So far, rabies have infected nine persons and only one victim survived.