A YOUNG nurse has died after she caught rabies from a stray puppy she tried to take care of while on holiday in the Philippines.

Birgitte Kallestad, 24, from Norway, died on Monday night at the hospital where she worked - more than two months after she was bitten by the dog while travelling with friends.

5 Birgitte Kallestad died after she caught rabies from a stray dog in the Philippines Credit: Facebook/Birgitte Kallestad

Birgitte was out riding mopeds with a group when they came across a stray puppy on the side of the road, according to a statement from her family.

The 24-year-old carried the animal back to her resort in the basket of her moped, sustaining minor scratches and bites as she and her friends played with it.

Kallestad, who worked as a nurse at the Norwegian Førde central hospital, patched up and sterilised the small scrapes herself.

The cuts were reportedly so small that nobody saw the need for further medical supervision.

It wasn't until she returned home to Norway that she began to feel unwell and was admitted to the hospital.

But doctors struggled the diagnose her condition and she was sent home and misdiagnosed several times, before eventually being admitted full-time.

99.9% of rabies cases are fatal RABIES is a viral infection that affects the brain and central nervous system.

Humans can catch it if scratched, bitten, or licked by infected animals such as dogs, cats and bats.

Symptoms can include anxiety, headaches and fever. There may also be hallucinations and respiratory failure.

Spasms of the muscles used for swallowing make it difficult for the patient to drink.

Once symptoms develop, rabies is fatal in 99.9 per cent of cases.

She died eight days after being permanently admitted to the hospital, just after doctors began to suspect she was exhibiting symptoms of rabies.

Birgitte's family are now campaigning for more awareness of the disease.

A spokesperson said: "Our dear Birgitte loved animals.

"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 program for places where it can be rabies, and that people become aware of the dangers."

The rabies vaccine is not required to travel to the Philippines.

But the Filipino government has declared rabies a public health problem after a spate of deaths in recent years.

It is believed around 200 people die from a rabies related illness there every year.

Rabies hasn't been detected on the Norwegian mainland for 200 years.

Last year, Brit kebab shop owner Omar Zouhri, 58, died after he contracted rabies while on holiday in Morocco.

He was bitten by a stray cat and didn't get the potentially life-saving rabies jab until it was too late.

There is a 99.9 per cent chance of death after rabies symptoms - including difficulty breathing, vomiting and headaches - appear.

Zouhri's son, Nabil, said: “He was at home in bed for four or five days in pain, vomiting, with headaches, not being able to swallow, so he was finding it very hard to eat."

5 The nurse was admitted to the hospital in Norway where she worked after she returned from the Philippines and fell ill Credit: Facebook/Birgitte Kallestad

5 She died on Monday evening after doctors initially struggled to diagnose her Credit: Facebook/Birgitte Kallestad

5 Birgitte found a stray puppy on the side of the road in the Philippines and took it back to her resort Credit: Instagram/Birgitte Kallestad

5 The 24-year-old was travelling on mopeds with a group of friends when she was scratched by the puppy Credit: Instagram/Birgitte Kallestad

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