Young Woman Dies From Rabies After Playing With Stray Puppy in Philippines A 24-year-old Norwegian woman has died after she contracted rabies from a stray dog while on holidays in the Philippines. Birgitte Kallestad was on holidays with friends in the Philippines in February. They were riding mopeds when they found a puppy on the side of the road. Kallestad picked up the puppy, put it in the basket on her moped and brought the puppy back to the resort where she and her friends were staying, her family said in a statement, sighted by the Daily Mail. She washed and groomed the puppy. Later, Kallestad and her friends played with the dog in the garden. The puppy had given her minor bites and small scrapes during this time, according to Kallestad’s family. She patched up and sterilized the wounds herself. Kallestad did not pay any further attention to the scrapes because they were so small, her family indicated in their statement. But within a day of returning to Norway, Kallestad fell ill. Doctors could not diagnose her situation for a long time, and Kallestad herself did not consider the minor injuries caused by the dog as linked to her condition. Her family said that she was hospitalized several times as her condition worsened. Eventually, she was being admitted full time. Then, one doctor suspected that her symptoms were indicative of rabies. Tests returned from the Public Health Authority in Sweden confirming the suspicion of rabies on May 4. But it was too late. Kallestad died on May 6 at the hospital where she worked, about eight days after she was admitted there full time. Norwegian tourist, 24, dies of rabies after rescuing a street puppy https://t.co/2OKq84KLpu pic.twitter.com/u7GIC8gLuD — Real News Reports (@RealNewsReport1) May 10, 2019 “Our dear Birgitte loved animals,” a family spokesperson said, according to the BBC. “Our fear is that this will happen to others who have a warm heart like her.” “We are very sympathetic with the family,” Sir Feruglio, a Senior Medical Officer at the Institute, told the BBC. “[Rabies] is a disease that’s endemic in 150 countries and it’s a huge health problem,” he said. According to the BBC, her death marks the first rabies-related death in Norway for more than 200 years. “It’s a terribly heavy case and a strain for the family,” infectious disease consultant Jens Eikås told VG. The Daily Mail reported that Kallestad’s friends, who had been in contact with the dog, have been notified. Norway’s health trust has also contacted at least 77 people who had contact with Kallestad, and of these people, 31 have been vaccinated against rabies. Under Norwegian law, rabies vaccines are not compulsory. However, Norway’s Institute of Public Health does recommend the rabies vaccines for certain countries—the Philippines among them. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that while rabies is 100 percent treatable, thousands of people around the world still die from the disease each year. According to the CDC, the most common way rabies is transmitted is “through the bite and virus-containing saliva of an infected host.” The rabies virus attacks the brain and nervous system in humans and, if left untreated, it can result in death within a few days of symptoms onset. Initial symptoms of rabies include headaches and a fever. “As the disease progresses, more specific symptoms appear and may include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation, hypersalivation (increase in saliva), difficulty swallowing, and hydrophobia (fear of water),” the CDC states. “Decisions to start vaccination, known as postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), will be based on your type of exposure and the animal you were exposed to, as well as laboratory and surveillance information for the geographic area where the exposure occurred,” the CDC’s website states. “In the United States, postexposure prophylaxis consists of a regimen of one dose of immune globulin and four doses of rabies vaccine over a 14-day period.”<doc-sep>"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>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 woman from Norway has died from rabies after a puppy bit her while she was on holiday in the Philippines. Birgitte Kallestad died last week, more than two months after coming in contact with the young dog. It is the first rabies-related human death in Norway for more than 200 years, according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. According to a statement put out by her family, Kallestad and her friends were riding mopeds when they found the puppy. The group of friends brought it to the resort in which they were staying and bathed, cared for and played with it. All of them sustained minor bites and scratches, which they sterilised and washed soon after. The scrapes had been so small that nobody gave them a second thought. Kallestad had posted updates from her vacation in the Philippines on Instagram. It was only weeks after Kallestad returned that she began to feel unwell. Rabies is transferred from an animal's saliva. Initial symptoms could be confused for the flu — fever, fatigue and headaches. But as the virus spreads, it can cause inflammation of the brain and hallucinations. Doctors say that it is almost always fatal once symptoms start showing. Doctors in Norway did not connect Kallestad's symptoms to rabies, and so, she spent several days in and out of Førde hospital, where she worked. She had been admitted for a week before she died. The rabies diagnosis came three days earlier. Kallestad's family is now urging Norwegian authorities to include the rabies vaccine in the inoculation programme for the Philippines and other places where rabies can be contracted from animals. "Our dear Birgitte loved animals," her family said in the statement. "Our fear is that this will happen to others who have a warm heart like her. We want this vaccine to be included in the programme for places where it can be rabies and that people become aware of the dangers." The World Health Organization estimates that over 55,000 people die of rabies every year. More than 99% of the victims are in Asia, Africa and South America. Dogs are the main cause of rabies-related deaths. Rabies in humans is 100% preventable through prompt appropriate medical care.<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.