Pakistan Reports 5,837 Dog Bite Cases in One Week, Sindh 4,182

Short answer: Pakistan reported 5,837 suspected animal and dog bite cases in one week, week 38 of 2026, in the National Institute of Health's (NIH) latest disease bulletin. That is up from 5,684 the week before. Sindh alone reported 4,182, or about 72 per cent. Punjab sent no figures, so the real number is higher.

The NIH uploaded the week 38 bulletin on Friday 9 October 2026. We downloaded it and the week 37 report and read the province and district tables. The NIH also used this bulletin to call for better rabies vaccine supply and mass dog vaccination.

Pakistan reported 5,837 dog bites in week 38

Pakistan's disease surveillance system recorded 5,837 suspected animal and dog bite cases in week 38 of 2026, up 153 from week 37. That works out at about 830 bites a day. Sindh carried most of them, and Punjab is missing from the count.

The NIH runs the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response system, called IDSR. Hospitals and clinics in 158 districts send weekly counts of priority diseases. The NIH groups dog bites with other animal bites under one heading, "Animal / Dog Bite". Every figure is a reported case, not a confirmed rabies case.

Here is how the areas compare. "NR" means the province sent no report.

Rural Sindh districts report the most bites

Dadu reported the most dog bites in Sindh in week 38, with 364 cases. Ghotki had 319, Naushero Feroze 308 and Khairpur 299. These are mostly rural districts. Karachi's seven districts reported 372 between them, fewer than Dadu alone.

We added up all 30 district figures in the Sindh table. They come to exactly 4,182, the same as the province total. Inside Karachi, Central had 167, West 87, Malir 62, Keamari 26, East 23, Korangi 7 and South none.

A low number does not always mean fewer bites. It can also mean fewer clinics reporting that week. Tharparkar reported 1 and Umerkot none, which looks more like a reporting gap than a safe week.

Swat and Swabi lead Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 1,392 dog bites in week 38, slightly down from 1,415. Swat had the most at 226, then Swabi at 166, Bajaur at 125, Mardan at 122 and Shangla at 119. The NIH's provincial note lists dog bites among the diseases that fell in KP this week.

Peshawar, the province's biggest city, reported only 11. Again, that may reflect which facilities sent in their forms. In Sindh the bulletin says the opposite: dog bites were among the diseases that increased.

The NIH wants rabies vaccine stocked and dogs vaccinated

The NIH used the week 38 bulletin to set out public health actions on dog bites. It asks health departments to keep rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin available at designated hospitals, especially in poorer areas, and to run mass dog vaccination where risk is high.

These are recommendations to federal and provincial health departments. They are not an order, and the bulletin does not say any province has acted on them yet. The full list includes:

• Report dog bites and suspected rabies quickly through IDSR.
• Wash the wound at once and give rabies post-exposure treatment, known as PEP, with immunoglobulin when needed.
• Keep rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin in stock without breaks.
• Get health, veterinary and city authorities to work together, an approach called One Health.
• Promote dog registration and vaccination, and humane control of stray dogs.
• Teach people to wash bites with soap and water and see a doctor fast.

Wash a dog bite for 15 minutes, then get the vaccine

Wash any dog bite or scratch with soap and running water for at least 15 minutes, then go to a hospital the same day. This is the World Health Organization's advice. Once rabies symptoms start, the disease is fatal in 100 per cent of cases, so treatment must begin before that.

Use a clock for the wash. Fifteen minutes feels long, and most people stop after one. Then follow these steps:

1. Wash the wound with soap and running water for 15 minutes.
2. Do not put chilli, oil, mud or any home remedy on it.
3. Go to the nearest district or teaching hospital the same day.
4. Ask for the anti-rabies vaccine and, for deep bites, rabies immunoglobulin by name.
5. Write down the dates of every vaccine dose and finish the full course.
6. Note whether the dog is a pet with a vaccine record, and tell the doctor.

Hospitals sometimes have the vaccine but not the immunoglobulin. Ring ahead if you can. The full first aid and the exposure categories are in what to do after a dog bite in Pakistan. If you need transport at night, Edhi and Chhipa ambulance numbers work across most cities.

Children are bitten more often. The WHO says children aged 5 to 14 are frequent victims, and dogs cause up to 99 per cent of human rabies cases.

The same bulletin shows other diseases rising

Week 38 also showed rises in mumps, whooping cough (pertussis), meningitis and probable diphtheria, the NIH says. Flu-like illness and chest infections in children under five went up too. Malaria fell, and Sindh's malaria count is covered in Sindh's week 38 malaria figures.

Measles stayed high, with 317 suspected cases nationwide, 253 of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Chikungunya appeared too, with 88 suspected cases, mostly in KP and Sindh.

Common questions

How many dog bite cases did Pakistan report this week?

5,837 suspected animal and dog bite cases in week 38 of 2026, the latest NIH bulletin, uploaded on 9 October. That is up from 5,684 in week 37. Punjab did not report.

Which district in Sindh has the most dog bites?

Dadu, with 364 in week 38. Ghotki (319), Naushero Feroze (308), Khairpur (299) and Shikarpur (244) followed.

Is a dog bite in Pakistan a rabies case?

No. The NIH counts bites, not rabies. Most bites never become rabies if the wound is washed and the vaccine is started in time. Rabies itself is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.

Is the anti-rabies vaccine free at government hospitals?

We did not find a current national rule on this. Policies differ by province and hospital, and stock can run short. Ask at the hospital's emergency desk and keep your dose card.

Why is Punjab missing from the NIH dog bite figures?

Punjab is marked "NR", not reported, for every disease in the bulletin. So the national total leaves out the largest province and is an undercount.

What week does week 38 cover?

The bulletin does not print dates. On the standard week calendar, week 38 of 2026 runs from 14 to 20 September.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked at about 6:50 pm PKT on Saturday 10 October 2026. We read the NIH's Public Health Bulletin, Pakistan, Week 38, 2026, and the Week 37 bulletin, both linked from the NIH's IDSR weekly reports page. Province figures are from Table 1, Sindh districts from Table 2 and KP districts from Table 4. The public health actions are from page 4 of the week 38 report. Wound washing and rabies facts are from the WHO rabies fact sheet. The week dates are our own.