France races to end rabies risk

By Caroline Wyatt
BBC Paris correspondent

Rabies can be fatal if left untreated until symptoms appear

France is racing against time to find and vaccinate four adults and a young boy believed to have come into contact with a rabid dog in August.

The four-month-old brown mongrel puppy was imported illegally from Morocco, showed the first rabid symptoms on 18 August and died three days later.

However, it had already bitten up to nine people in the Gironde, Dordogne and Garonne regions in August.

The potentially fatal rabies virus incubates over a 35 to 40-day period.

France is now divided on whether or not to make the rabies vaccine compulsory for all domestic cats and dogs.

Holiday-maker tracked down

At least 10 people who came into contact with the dog in the south-west of France have now been traced and given the anti-rabies vaccination.

But the French health authorities are still looking for several other people and at least four dogs who may be at risk of contracting rabies if they are not vaccinated in time.

The rabid puppy was imported illegally by an entertainer, who spent much of August taking the dog with him to music festivals, where it bit several people.

The brown mongrel was contagious between 2 and 21 August, so owners in the Bordeaux region whose dogs strayed during that period face having them put down as a precaution.

A Dutch holiday-maker who was bitten has now been tracked down, but the French authorities are appealing to anyone who came into contact with the dog to go to their doctor for a vaccination.

Rabies is rare in France but, if left untreated, can be fatal.