Mira-Bhayandar: More than 10,000 dog bite cases have been reported from the twin-city in 2023. The figures show that on an average, at least 28 people have fallen prey to the canine terror everyday.
As per official statistics, as many as 10,283 dog bite cases were received by the twin-city’s 13 medical institutions including 11 public health posts (PHP) and a hospital each run by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) and state government between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023.
10,145 dog bite cases reported in 2023
Notably, 10,145 dog bite cases were reported from the twin-city last year. This besides other unreported dog bite victims who approached private healthcare establishments for treatment.
Anti-rabies vaccines used to treat dog-bite victims
The health department of the MBMC had received 25,548 anti-rabies vaccine (ARV)- a crucial injection administered to dog bite victims in 2022. The government supply of ARV’s was pegged at 20,800 ARV’s till May in 2023.While one vial of the ARV costs between ₹500 and ₹700 in the market, it is administered for free at the MBMC and government run medical institutions. Usually, doctors recommend four to five doses of the vaccine depending on the nature of the injury. In some cases the more expensive immunoglobulin injections were administered to dog bite patients. According to the 2007 and 2012 dog census programmes, the dog count of the twin-city stood at 18,828 and 8,275 respectively.
However, despite conducting a breed wise livestock census under the aegis of the union government's Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DAHDF) in 2018, the civic administration claims ignorance about the figure compilation. As per rough estimates the number of dogs present in the twin-city is more than 30,000.
