Karachi: A 42-year-old woman from Jacobabad has died of rabies after being bitten by a mongoose and failing to receive post-exposure treatment, in what health experts believe is the first reported human rabies death linked to a mongoose bite in Pakistan, highlighting the often-overlooked dangers posed by wild animals.
The woman died at Karachi’s Indus Hospital, where doctors confirmed she had developed clinical rabies nearly two weeks after being bitten by the animal. Hospital officials said she neither sought medical care nor received anti-rabies vaccination following the bite, allowing the infection to progress to its almost invariably fatal stage.
According to Indus Hospital offiails, the deceased was brought from Jacobabad after developing symptoms consistent with rabies, including neurological complications. The hospital’s Rabies Prevention and Training Centre described the case as highly unusual because most rabies deaths in Pakistan are associated with dog bites.
Rabies programme manager Aftab Gohar said this was the first documented case encountered by the programme involving a mongoose bite, underscoring the need for greater public awareness that rabies can be transmitted by a range of mammals, not just dogs.
The death has pushed the number of reported rabies fatalities in Karachi’s major hospitals to 14 this year. Indus Hospital has recorded nine deaths while five others were reported from Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
Although dog bites account for the overwhelming majority of human rabies cases globally, medical literature confirms that mongooses can carry and transmit the rabies virus to humans. Several countries, including India, Puerto Rico and parts of Africa, have documented human rabies cases linked to mongoose bites. Studies have identified mongooses as important rabies reservoirs in some regions, while health authorities recommend rabies post-exposure prophylaxis after any mongoose bite.
However, available scientific literature suggests that human rabies following mongoose bites is extremely rare. Published reports from India describe only a handful of such cases over several decades, while a 2017 report from Puerto Rico documented the first confirmed mongoose-associated human rabies case in a US territory.
Experts warned that it would be more accurate to describe the Jacobabad woman’s death as Pakistan’s first reported or documented mongoose-associated rabies fatality rather than the first ever occurrence, as historical surveillance data on wildlife-related rabies exposures remain limited.
Rabies is caused by a virus transmitted through the saliva of infected mammals and is almost 100 percent fatal once symptoms appear. However, the disease is entirely preventable if wounds are immediately washed with soap and water and victims promptly receive rabies vaccine and, where indicated, rabies immunoglobulin.
Public health experts warned that the case serves as a reminder that bites from wild animals including mongooses, jackals, foxes and monkeys should always be treated as potential rabies exposures requiring urgent medical evaluation.
Pakistan records thousands of dog-bite cases every month and continues to report preventable rabies deaths, largely due to delays in seeking treatment, poor awareness and inadequate access to post-exposure prophylaxis in some areas.
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