A 44-year-old man from Iași county died from rabies after being bitten by a stray dog that entered his yard.
It is the first rabies-related death recorded in Romania in the past 13 years, according to doctors cited by Digi24.
The tragedy was confirmed by the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Iași, where the patient was in a coma for over three weeks.
The incident occurred at the end of February when a stray dog entered the victim's yard. While trying to drive the animal away, the man was bitten on the hand.
The family reports that he took antibiotics for several days but did not get vaccinated against rabies.
The first symptoms of the disease appeared only in June, in an evolution considered unusual by specialists, who state that rabies normally has a much shorter incubation period.
Suspicion of rabies arose only after the family mentioned the February bite. The diagnosis was later confirmed, but medical intervention came too late to save his life.
Doctors warn that any bite from a stray dog or wild animal should be immediately followed by rabies vaccination. Although dogs can be carriers, the main source of rabies in Romania remains foxes.
The last rabies-related death in Romania was recorded in 2012 in Bacău county when a 12-year-old girl died after a bite.