KUCHING: Sarawak recorded its first human rabies case for 2025 from a stray cat bite this month, Sarawak Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said.
The case involved a 13-year-old teen in Kampung Segedup near here who displayed symptoms of fever, lack of appetite, vomiting, hallucinations, raving and hydrophobia on May 21.
“The victim is being treated at the Sarawak General Hospital and the state health department has confirmed the patient has rabies.
“Usually if they reach this stage, it’s really hard to recover... we have taken preventive measures by catching stray dogs around the area and the stray cat has been confirmed dead,” he said at a media conference of the Rabies in Borneo 2025 conference at the state assembly building today, adding that local authorities are intensifying efforts to control stray cats and dogs in the area.
He also advised the public to be vigilant about the threat of rabies and to seek hospital treatment if attacked by animals before the virus affects the brain and nerves.
“This year we took 21 cat samples, two of them confirmed positive for rabies... most rabies infection cases are from animal bites and victims should immediately go to the hospital for an injection.
“But if the victim delays going to hospital and the virus reaches the brain it can be irreversible and it is painful... that’s what we want to avoid,” he said.
According to the Sarawak Health Department, there have been 63,301 cases of dog bites, 57,210 cases of cat bites or scratches and 1,832 cases involving other animal bites reported since 2017 till the 20th epidemiological week for 2025 (May 11 to 17, 2025)
On the rabies conference, Stephen expressed hope that it would provide solutions to ensure countries in Borneo are free of rabies.
“We want more parties involved to understand the danger of animals carrying the rabies virus... so for this conference we invited Sabah, Kalimantan, Indonesia and Brunei to share how to tackle the issue.
“We also invited countries that have successfully tackled rabies to share their experiences and to ensure we implement more effective policies,” he said.
