KARACHI - A grand medical survey is going to be conducted in the country to estimate the rabies-infected and dog-bite cases as thousands of people die of this disease annually in the country. This is for the first time in the country that a proper survey is going to be held. Department of Infectious Disease Indus Hospital (IDIH), Korangi, Karachi, will conduct this important survey with the financial assistance from World Health Organisation (WHO). According to statistics, prepared by National Institute of Health (NIH), nearly 2,000 to 5,000 deaths are reported annually due to rabies in Pakistan. The NIH releases these figures every year for the last ten years. Dr Nasim Salahuddin, Consultant and head of the IDIH expressed these views on Thursday while talking to The Nation. According to WHO, the most frequent way that humans become infected with rabies is through the bite of infected dogs and cats, wild carnivorous species like foxes, raccoons, skunks, jackals, wolves, some insectivorous and vampire bats. Cattle, horses, deer and other herbivores can become infected with rabies and although they could potentially transmit the virus to other animals and to the people, this rarely occurs. Dr Nasim said that rabies was widely distributed and present in all continents of the world. More than 55,000 people die of this disease annually. More than 95 per cent such deaths occur in Asia and Africa, she said, and added that most human deaths follow a bite from an infected dog while 30 per cent to 60 per cent of the victims of dog bites are children under the age of 15. "The said survey will commence from January 200 and will be completed in one year (December 2009). Dr Amir Khan and Dr Momin Qazi will assist me. Survey samples will be taken from 10 cities of the country, including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Bhawalpur, Islamabad, Quetta, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Thatta and Mirpurkhas. In every city, a coordinator and a research officer will be deputed to maintain the data of dog bite cases and rabies cases. The WHO has already termed our country a 'rabies-endemic' country because of lack of awareness regarding the disease", she said. It is worth mentioning here that hundreds of rabid dogs are roaming the streets of the metropolis but the authorities concerned have no proper plan to kill such dangerous dogs in order to save the citizens from falling victim to this fatal disease. According to experts, the disease is incurable if it is treated properly at first stage. The WHO has chalked out a treatment programme for the disease. According to WHO, wound cleansing and immunisations, done as soon as possible after suspect contact with an animal and following WHO recommendations, can prevent the rabies in virtually 100 per cent of exposures. Once the signs and symptoms of rabies begin to appear, there is no treatment and the disease is almost always fatal. The most cost-effective strategy for preventing rabies in people is by eliminating this disease in dogs through animal vaccinations. Rabies is a zoonotic viral disease which infects domestic and wild animals. It is transmitted to other animals and humans through close contact with saliva from infected animals (i.e. bites, scratches, licks on broken skin and mucous membranes). Once symptoms of the disease develop, rabies is fatal to both animals and humans. The first symptoms of rabies are usually non-specific and suggest involvement of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and/or central nervous systems. In the acute stage, signs of hyperactivity (furious rabies) or paralysis (dumb rabies) predominate. In both furious and dumb rabies, paralysis eventually progresses to complete paralysis followed by coma and death in all cases, usually due to respiratory failure. Without intensive care, death occurs during the first seven days of illness.