DENPASAR: The attack of three residents, including two children, by a rabid dog in Jembrana regency has renewed attention on Bali’s rabies crisis, with the province continuing to rank among Indonesia’s hardest-hit areas for the deadly disease.
Authorities said the incident occurred on June 15 in East Tegal Badeng village, Negara district, when a three-year-old pet dog that had been allowed to roam freely suddenly attacked a group of residents gathered at a community event.
The attack left three people injured, including a 47-year-old adult and two children aged five and four, all of whom sustained bite wounds. Residents immediately drove the dog away.
However, after fleeing the scene, the animal began exhibiting symptoms consistent with rabies, including loss of coordination and impaired movement, before being found dead the following day.
Veterinary authorities subsequently collected brain tissue samples for laboratory testing. The results later confirmed the presence of the rabies virus, establishing that the dog was infected at the time of the attack.
Following the laboratory confirmation, health authorities immediately administered post-exposure anti-rabies vaccinations to the three victims to prevent the disease from developing.
Head of the Animal Husbandry and Animal Health Division at Jembrana’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Agency, I Gusti Ngurah Putu Sugiarta, said authorities were preparing to launch a mass rabies vaccination campaign targeting dogs and other rabies-transmitting animals in areas surrounding the attack site.
“Mass vaccination is urgently needed given the relatively high number of rabies cases recorded in Jembrana during the first half of this year.
As of early June, the regency had reported 33 confirmed rabies cases in animals,” Sugiarta said on Sunday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
He urged residents to remain vigilant and take greater responsibility for their pets to help prevent further transmission.
“People should not allow their pets to roam freely and should immediately seek medical attention if they are bitten by a dog. They should also report any animals displaying unusual behaviour to the nearest health authorities,” he said.
The latest incident comes just weeks after a 38-year-old housewife in Jembrana regency died from rabies. The woman died on May 24, approximately one month after she was attacked by a stray cat while hanging laundry outside her home.
Authorities said the woman did not seek medical treatment or report the incident to health authorities after the cat bit her calf. Instead, she self-treated the wound by washing it with soap and running water.
On May 23, she began showing symptoms consistent with rabies, including hydrophobia (fear of water), aerophobia (fear of air currents), restlessness and shortness of breath. She was immediately taken to a medical facility, where she was diagnosed with encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain. She died a day later.
Rabies is a vaccine-preventable zoonotic viral disease that affects the central nervous system. It is almost always fatal in humans once symptoms appear, with a near 100 percent mortality rate. However, death can be prevented if anti-rabies vaccine or serum is administered promptly after exposure and before symptoms develop.
The disease infects a wide range of mammals, including dogs, cats, livestock and wildlife. However, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), dogs are responsible for up to 99 per cent of human rabies cases.
Rabies is transmitted through the saliva of infected animals, typically via bites, scratches or direct contact with mucous membranes such as the eyes, mouth or open wounds.
The symptoms of a rabies infection among humans includes a fever, headache, insomnia and muscle aches. In the later stages of a rabies infection, patients will start experiencing hydrophobia and photophobia, the fear of water and light, before they succumb to death.
Rabies is endemic in 26 of Indonesia's 38 provinces, with Bali and East Nusa Tenggara consistently recording some of the highest case numbers each year, driven largely by large stray dog populations.
In 2025, official data showed Bali's dog population reached 565,737, the highest in Indonesia.
Between January and May, the province recorded more than 29,300 animal bite cases involving rabies-transmitting animals, averaging about 207 cases per day.
However, it remains unclear how many of the biting animals were confirmed to be infected with the virus.
Last year, 16 people died from rabies across the island. Since the beginning of this year, a further five deaths have been reported. – The Jakarta Post/ANN
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