British woman with rabies dies at London hospital
A health department official (R) removes the carcasses of stray dogs culled in a sweep against rabies on Serangan island off the southeast coast of Bali on February 17, 2009. A British woman died in London after being bitten by a rabid dog in south Asia.
A woman who was being treated for rabies has died at London's Hospital for Tropical Diseases, according to the BBC.
The woman, who has not been identified, had been bitten by a dog in South Asia and a hospital spokesman said she had died over the weekend, the BBC wrote.
The UK's Daily Telegraph said "the woman is believed to have been a grandmother in her 50s of Asian origin… and was bitten by a puppy with rabies on a visit to India."
She was reportedly bitten about two months ago but did not go to the hospital weeks later. The woman finally did go to Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent, twice, but was sent home, the Telegraph reported. Doctors said she did not tell them about the bite.
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The BBC said there is an investigation underway regarding why she was turned away from the emergency department at the Dartford hospital.
On Friday it was announced someone in Leeds had also sought treatment for a possible case of rabies but the Health Protection Agency said there were "no links" between the two cases.
More than 55,000 people are estimated to die from rabies every year, with most cases occurring in developing countries, particularly South and South-East Asia, according to the Daily Mirror.
Bali, the popular tourist island off Indonesia, suffers from rabies outbreaks. One outbreak that began in 2008 continued into at least 2011, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The country battles outbreaks by culling infected dogs and vaccinating the uninfected.
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