At least 40 million people are attacked by animals every year on the Chinese mainland, based on the quantity of rabies vaccine used, according to a recent report on rabies's prevention and treatment.

The report, issued by the Ministry of Health, attributed widespread injuries to the increasing number of cats and dogs raised in recent years.

More than 2,400 lupomania cases were reported each year since 2004, the second highest in the world, next to India. Most cases took place in southern and eastern parts of the country, it said.

About 60.85 percent of rabies cases were found in five provincial regions, namely Guangxi, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hunan and Sichuan, in the past five years.

Regions with less rabies cases previously have also seen a rising number of cases. Central China's Henan Province had only one case in 2000. But the figure climbed to 196 in 2007.

Rabies, usually known as canine madness, is fatal by causing severe nervous symptoms.

The World Health Organization estimated that more than 55,000 died of lupomania every year, 95 percent of which came from the developing countries in Asia and Africa.