The woman's door was not properly closed, and a stray dog followed her into the house, biting her leg! The dog involved died three days later, and its rabies virus test came back positive. Multiple parties have responded.

Recently, a stray dog attack incident occurred in a residential community in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province. Resident Ms. Xin was bitten by a stray dog that followed her into her home. After testing, the dog was found to be positive for rabies virus.

The door wasn’t shut properly

The stray dog followed into the residence and launched an attack

According to Ms. Xin’s recollection, at the time of the incident, there were small children coming to her home to play. Because her door was left slightly open, a stray dog followed into the house. “I hurriedly came down from upstairs; the dog was already at the edge of the cage. I wanted to chase it out, but it wouldn’t leave, and it suddenly bit my leg.” Ms. Xin described. After being injured, she went to the hospital immediately for treatment. The doctor diagnosed that her wound fell under “Grade III exposure,” the most severe level among rabies exposure categories, and required immediate handling.

What’s even more concerning is that after the community property management controlled the stray dog that bit Ms. Xin, the dog died within three or four days. Subsequent related test results showed that the dog carried rabies virus, and the result was positive.

Property management response:

Willing to coordinate or go through legal procedures

A person in charge of Jiaozuo Xintiandi Property Management Co., Ltd. responded to the incident, saying that after the stray dog died, the property management contacted relevant departments such as the urban management office and the police station immediately. As explained, the dog itself was suspected to be ill, and the relevant departments handled it with harmless treatment (burial) in accordance with regulations. At the same time, the property management conducted two rounds of comprehensive disinfection and sterilization in the area where the dog’s activity took place.

The person in charge said that during daily management, patrols had been strengthened. “The security guards patrol once every two hours; other staff also inspect within the residential area. If any stray animals are found, they will be driven away immediately.” Regarding responsibility and compensation for this incident, the property management said it was willing to first negotiate with the homeowners. “If no agreement can be reached through negotiation, then we’ll go through legal procedures—so it will be relatively fair and just.”

Subdistrict office:

Waiting for the results of the police investigation

The incident has also drawn attention from the subdistrict office in the jurisdiction. Hu Haiyan, a staff member of the Wen Yuan Subdistrict Office in Jiaozuo City, said that the results of further investigation by the public security authorities must be awaited. “If it involves other jurisdictions, we will also report to the relevant departments in the district.” She also pointed out that within this subdistrict’s administrative area, further efforts would be made to strengthen disinfection and sterilization work in public areas, and to solidly carry out publicity and education on prevention of rabies and related knowledge.

Experts urgently remind:

Grade III exposure requires immediate standardized management

In this incident, Ms. Xin’s situation—penetrating skin injuries with bleeding—falls under high-risk rabies exposure (Grade III exposure).

For the general public, mastering correct rabies emergency response knowledge can save lives when accidents happen.

What is rabies exposure?

Rabies exposure refers to a rabid, suspected rabid, or a host animal whose rabies status cannot be determined biting or scratching, licking mucous membranes or damaged skin, or direct contact between mucous membranes or open wounds and saliva or tissues that may contain rabies virus.

In simple terms: As long as skin is broken or mucous membranes come into contact with the saliva of a suspicious animal, it counts as exposure.

Exposure is divided into three grades

Based on the mode of contact and the degree of exposure, rabies exposure is divided into three grades:

Special reminder: If it is confirmed as Grade II exposure and the person has severe immune function deficiency, or if the wound from Grade II exposure is located on the head or face and the health condition of the biting animal cannot be determined, it should be handled as Grade III exposure.

Post-exposure management: “three steps”

Step 1: Wash the wound promptly (you can do it at home first)

Once exposure occurs, immediately flush the wound by alternating use of soap water (or other weakly alkaline cleaning agents) and running water for at least 15 minutes. This step is crucial and can reduce the amount of virus in the wound to the maximum extent. After flushing, disinfect the wound with povidone-iodine or 75% medical alcohol.

Step 2: Go to a regular outpatient clinic for evaluation and treatment

Go to the nearest rabies exposure prevention and treatment clinic as soon as possible. Professional doctors will evaluate the exposure grade and formulate a treatment plan. Currently, there are two post-exposure vaccination regimens approved by the state:

5-dose immunization schedule: one dose each on days 0, 3, 7, 14, and 28;

“2-1-1” immunization schedule: 2 doses on day 0, and 1 dose each on days 7 and 21.

Step 3: Grade III exposure requires injection of passive immunization agents

For those with Grade III exposure (and for Grade II exposure cases that require treatment as Grade III), calculate the dosage of passive immunization agents such as immunoglobulin and serum based on the recipient’s body weight, and use all the doses at once. This can provide “immediate protection” before antibodies are generated by the vaccine.

Source: Xiao Li Helps, Nanchang CDC, City Scene, Yangcheng Evening News

Editor: Ouyang Jing

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