Rabies scare after flagellation ritual in Pampanga



Agence France-Presse
Last updated 06:59pm (Mla time) 04/19/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- Up to 100 men in the Philippines may have contracted rabies after taking part in a self-flagellation ritual to celebrate Easter, doctors and local authorities said Thursday.

A health alert was issued after a man who took part in the bizarre ceremony -- where participants slash their backs with knifes before flaying themselves with bamboo whips -- died from the virus on April 11.

Mabalacat town mayor Mario Morales told local media that Eduardo Sese, who was bitten by an infected dog in February, may have contaminated up to 100 people who shared knives to cut themselves.

The government doctor in Pampanga province north of Manila, Maria Clara Aquino, said vaccines had been given to 103 people who could have been exposed.

Self-flagellation is an annual tradition in Pampanga and other parts of the Philippines where men whip themselves into a frenzy on Good Friday to atone for their sins.

Rabies is a viral disease which infects domestic and wild animals.

It is transmitted to other animals and humans through close contact with saliva from infected animals such as bites, scratches or licks on broken skin.

Once symptoms of the disease develop, rabies is fatal to both animals and humans, according to the World Health Organization. Death can occur within seven days of infection.

A WHO study in 2004 estimated up to 55,000 people, mostly in rural areas of Africa and Asia, die each year from rabies.

Sabi nang huwag kakain ng asong naglalaway eh.

I think becaus esomeone killed a dog using that knife then uses them again....

Moral lesson is never share utensils or anything in public and private ..Hehehe

sharing knives in gneral is dangerous.

geez. Hepatitis... HIV... etc etc

The man behind this thing should have been persecuted!

The man behind this thing should have been persecuted!