China is reporting a 29.2 percent increase in the number of rabies cases in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period a year ago.

Of 1,874 cases reported in 21 provinces from January to August, 1,735 people died, the Ministry of Health said yesterday, noting the high mortality rate of the disease.

China ranks second after India in the number of rabies cases, China News Service said.

The most severely hit areas include Guizhou, Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The hike in rabies cases is mostly attributed to the huge increase in pets raised in cities and villages since 1997, while pet vaccinations failed to keep pace, the ministry said.

More rabies cases are reported during the summer and autumn than in spring or winter.

Rabies is a preventable disease, if pet dogs are vaccinated, and people avoid close contact with stray animals and visit a hospital immediately after being attacked, doctors said.

Pet owners should also go to the hospital if their pets bite them. Dogs that don't show any symptoms of rabies could be carrying the virus.

The rabies virus can be transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected animal. The virus attacks the central nerve system and is fatal without prompt treatment.

The country's peak periods of rabies outbreak were in the 1970s and 1980s. It reported 7,028 rabies patients in 1981 alone. Rabies had been under control since the mid-1980s, the report said and in 1996, the number of cases dropped to 159.

However, the number of cases has been rising in recent years, the ministry said.

(Shanghai Daily September 27, 2006)