KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 (Xinhua) -- A seven-year-old girl in eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak died on Thursday, the third death caused by a rare outbreak of rabies since early July, said Noor Hisham Abdullah, director general of Malaysia's Ministry of Health.
The girl's death came a week after a six-year-old girl and her little brother died after they were infected with the disease, with a surge of dog bite reports among villages in Sarawak on the Borneo island.
According to Noor Hisham, a fourth confirmed victim, a five-year-old girl, remained in critical condition at a hospital in Sarawak and seven villages already declared by the authorities as rabies-infected areas.
As of July 13, active case detection efforts have been launched to trace dog bite cases at 96 villages involving 5,663 households and 21,978 people, said Noor Hisham, adding the public in Serian should take precaution measures such as avoiding stray dogs to protect themselves.
It is not known yet what caused the rare outbreak, but local media reported that authorities have provided free vaccination services for people's pets.
