Surin village declared rabies zone after death of teacher
A village in Surin province has been declared a rabies control zone after a teacher, who had been caring for street dogs in her community, died of rabies.
Saowanee Chokchatree, 59, was admitted to Surin Hospital on Friday and died three days later. She was found to have contracted rabies.
Following her death, the Surin Livestock Office declared her village, Phorang, a rabies control zone earlier this week and dispatched a team of officials to vaccinate all dogs and cats in the community. Local residents were also told to quarantine their pet dogs and cats until the office could ascertain the disease was under control.
Following the cremation ceremony, the teacher’s husband, Boonsuan Chokchtree, 61, said his wife loved animals. She had raised five dogs and had been feeding stray dogs around the community in Tambon Naimueang in the province’s Muang district.
On Friday, she suffered from stiffness in her jaws and had to spit out saliva all the time. She was afraid of water so he rushed her to the hospital but it was too late.
