A state of concern prevails in Omdurman, the Sudanese capital, due to the spread of some "rabid" dogs, particularly amidst the scarcity of medicines and the difficulty in obtaining treatment due to the war that recently marked its first year.
The intensity of concern has increased lately, following fierce battles that erupted between the army and the Rapid Support Forces in the city's neighborhoods. Regarding the corpses on the streets, some residents confirmed that stray dogs have become rabid after feeding on the bodies left in Omdurman's streets.
For instance, Abd al-Rahim Hussein, while bringing dinner for his family late at night during the last days of Ramadan, was bitten by a dog believed to be rabid. He told the Arab World News Agency (AWP): "I was walking on one of the neighborhood's roads after buying dinner when I was surprised by an attack from a dog that bit my left leg." However, Abd al-Rahim was unable to find rabies serum after an arduous search in nearby hospitals and was forced to take antibiotics based on a doctor's advice.
The issue isn't unique to his case; residents in the Karari locality in northern Omdurman, which, along with Bahri and Khartoum, makes up the broader Sudanese capital on either side of the Nile, have also complained about the spread of dogs believed to be rabid in recent months.
Mohamed Abdel Halim, a resident of the Revolution neighborhood in Karari, stated that several residents in his area have suffered from dog bites and attacks by stray dogs. The man, who volunteers at the Al-Nou Hospital in Omdurman, noted that the behavior of the dogs that have moved from various areas in Omdurman to the north of the city has clearly changed, and they now attack passersby on the streets. He added, "For more than four months, we have heard calls for the need for rabies serum to treat between 3-5 cases weekly."
