UP: Father-son die after bitten by their rabies-infected cat

Officials added the cat had been bitten by a stray dog, which was infected by rabies, sometime in September.

Kanpur: A government teacher and his 24-year-old son died within a span of a week due to rabies infection, after they were bitten and scratched by their pet cat in Akbarpur town of Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur Dehat district, officials said.

Officials added the cat had been bitten by a stray dog, which was infected by rabies, sometime in September. Kanpur Dehat District Magistrate Alok Singh said that a Health department team had been sent to the locality and all precautionary measures were being taken.

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Health officials said that Imtiazuddin, 58, a headmaster in a basic school, had a pet cat which was bitten by a rabies infected dog in September. The family did not know that the cat had contracted rabies and continued to provide general treatment to it. About a fortnight ago, both Imitizuddin and his son Azeem Akhtar, 24, who works in Noida and had come home for a few days, were bitten and scratched by the cat.

“Instead of getting an anti-rabies vaccine, both of them got tetanus injection. Despite the fact that the cat died after a few days, the family took the matter lightly. On November 21, the family left for Bhopal to attend a wedding where Azeem’s health started deteriorating,” officials said.

After primary treatment in Bhopal, Azeem was being brought to Kanpur on November 25 but he died on the way. On November 29 night, Imtiazuddin’s health also started deteriorating and he was taken to the Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences in Etawah’s Saifai, where he too died the next day. The family still kept the developments under wraps and performed the last rites. Health department officials said they were monitoring the condition of Imtiazuddin’s wife and daughter.

“Everything went unnoticed as the family moved to Bhopal. We are gathering additional information from the family of the deceased. The Chief Medical Officer has been instructed to take all necessary measures and examine particularly those people in the area who have pets. Civic authorities have also been asked to relocate all stray dogs from the area,” the District Magistrate said.