"It's really important to stress that even if you've been vaccinated before you travel, if you do have contact [with a potentially infected animal] you need to go to a local health clinic for a second vaccination.<doc-sep>Birgitte Kallestad was with friends in February when she noticed the stray pooch by the side of the road. She not only picked it up but brought it back to the resort, where she washed it and played with it, said her family. When the dog began biting her, she paid no notice.<doc-sep>A Norwegian woman who recently traveled to the Philippines for a vacation with friends died following her return after contracting rabies from a stray dog. Birgitte Kallestad, 24, traveled to the Southeast Asian nation with friends in February. One day, while riding mopeds through town, they came across a puppy on the side of the road. Kallestad carried the puppy in her basket and took it back to the resort they were staying at, her family said in a statement, according to the Daily Mail. FRENCH ADVENTURER, 72, COMPLETES HIS TRIP ACROSS THE ATLANTIC IN A BARREL After washing and grooming the puppy, the family said that Kallestad and her friends played with it, sustaining minor bites and scratches. Kallestad, a health worker back in Norway, was said to have cleared and sterilized the cuts but did not seek further medical attention because they were so small. After returning to Norway, Kallestad fell ill and was hospitalized several times as doctors scrambled to figure out what was wrong with her. She died Monday at the hospital where she worked more than two months after coming in contact with the puppy. “Our dear Birgitte loved animals,” her family said in a statement, the BBC reported. “Our fear is that this will happen to others who have a warm heart like her.” IRISH WOMAN, 81, FINALLY MEETS HER 103-YEAR-OLD MOTHER, MORE THAN 6 DECADES AFTER STARTING SEARCH Sweden’s Public Health Authorities confirmed Saturday that Kallestad had rabies. Neither Kallestad nor her friends on the trip had been inoculated against the disease because it is not on the list of vaccines required to travel to the Philippines, according to the Daily Mail. Rabies is treatable, but if left untreated can cause a life-threatening infection of the brain and nervous system in humans. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Kallestad’s family said they are campaigning to change in the law to make rabies vaccines compulsory for citizens. “If we can achieve this, the death of our sunbeam can save others,” her family said.<doc-sep>A Norwegian tourist has died after she was infected with rabies months ago from a stray puppy in the Philippines, Norwegian media reported. Birgitte Kallestad, 24, died earlier this week, her family said in a statement Thursday, according to NRK, Norway's state-owned broadcaster. Kallestad and her friends were in the Philippines in February and spotted the puppy on the side of the road, NRK reported. The woman grabbed the puppy and bathed it after bringing it back to where they were staying, but soon the small dog began nibbling on her and her friend's fingers, the family said, according to NRK. No one thought much of it, and Kallestad, a health worker, washed the small cuts out, NRK reported. But when the woman returned home to Norway, she fell ill. According to Verdens Gang, a Norwegian tabloid, Kallestad went to doctors multiple times before her death, but none connected her symptoms to rabies. Feb. 10:Health Department: Possible rabies exposure from bat at Pacers game Oct. 2018:Dogs help scared puppy conquer fears The tabloid reported that doctors said it was the first rabies-related death in the Scandinavian country in 200 years. Rabies is a deadly, viral disease that infects the central nervous system. Post-exposure vaccines are used to prevent progression of the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms – such as fever, headache and weakness or discomfort – can appear similar to other diseases at first. Other more serious symptoms develop later, including insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation, hypersalivation (increase in saliva), difficulty swallowing and hydrophobia (fear of water), the CDC says. Rabies deaths are rare in the United States, though wild animals do still carry the virus. In the Philippines, there is a "high risk" of contracting rabies, the World Health Organization said in 2013. "Our dear Birgitte loved animals," her family said, according to the BBC. "Our fear is that this will happen to others who have a warm heart like her." Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller.<doc-sep>
A Norwegian woman died from rabies after she played with an infected puppy that she attempted to rescue while on vacation, according to news reports. The woman, 24-year-old Birgitte Kallestad, was traveling in the Philippines with friends in February when they found the puppy on the side of the road, according to the Washington Post. Kallestad took the puppy back to the resort, where she washed and played with it. Kallestad received some "small scrapes" from the animal, her family said, and she washed these nicks without seeking medical treatment, the BBC reported. But it wasn't until Kallestad was back in Norway that she began to experience symptoms and visited the emergency room several times. By that time, some time had passed since her Philippines trip, and doctors had trouble diagnosing her illness. It wasn't until Saturday (May 4) that officials confirmed she had rabies, Fox News reported. Kallestad died on Monday (May 6). [The 9 Deadliest Viruses on Earth] It's the first death tied to rabies in Norway in more than 200 years, according to the BBC. "Our dear Birgitte loved animals ... our fear is that this will happen to others who have a warm heart like her," her family said in a statement, according to the BBC. Rabies is a viral disease that's most often transmitted through the bite of an infected animal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Early signs of the disease include flu-like symptoms, such as general weakness, fever and headache, followed by more severe symptoms, including anxiety, confusion, hallucinations and insomnia. There is a vaccine for rabies, but in order to be effective, it must be given before symptoms appear. Unfortunately, once a person starts to show symptoms of rabies, there is no effective treatment and the disease is almost always fatal, according to the CDC. Rabies remains endemic in more than 120 countries, mostly areas with inadequate public health resources and limited access to preventive treatment, according to the CDC. In January, the CDC reported the case of a Virginia woman who died from rabies after being bitten by a puppy while on a retreat in India. Originally published on Live Science.