KUCHING: The rabies virus, which has taken four lives following an outbreak in Serian district here this month, has also taken 13 lives since July 11 in several areas in neighbouring Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia.

Serian and Kalimantan Barat share a common border.

According to Harian Rakyat Kalbar, the rabies virus in Kalimantan Barat has spread rapidly, resulting in the record number of 1,006 cases of human infection.

However, the report did not mention when the victims succumbed to the disease.

Harian Rakyat Kalbar reporter Ochsya shared that the highest number of cases was recorded at Kabupaten Sanggau, which coincidentally is very close to the border with Sarawak.

“There are 423 cases at this kabupaten (province) and out of this number, eight died,” the newspaper reported.

Sintang reported 219 cases, including three fatalities, and Hulu Kapuas registered 104 cases.

The report also mentioned that due to the record number of cases there, the Malaysian government began to suspect that the dreaded disease started in Kalimantan Barat and spread to Serian.

It added that easy passage across the border is the root cause of the spread of the virus.

News portal Metrotvnews.com reported that the spread of rabies in Kalimantan Barat is at an alarming rate.

A reliable government source in the agriculture sector said, based on daily reports of rabies-infected dogs attack, 11 regions close to the Sarawak-Kalimantan Barat border were affected.

The veterinary service provider in Kalimantan Barat is now aggressively combating the spread of the disease through vaccination programmes and up to July 10, 873 dogs were vaccinated.

The latest report said all rabies-infected dog attack cases occurred at at Kecamatan Sekayam, Kabupaten Sanggau near Sarawak.

Efforts to get confirmation from the Kalimantan Berat Veterinary Services head Kadis Wanak yesterday were futile.