Dog Bite Cases in Pakistan, Week 42 2026: 6,028 Bites, Sindh 4,525 and Ghotki Leads

That is about 861 bites a day across the areas that report, and Punjab is not among them. Sindh rose by 237 while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa fell by 178. A bite needs the same-day wound washing and rabies vaccine whatever the count. The province and district figures are below, with what to do after a bite.

Dog bites rose 2 per cent to 6,028 in week 42

NIH counted 6,028 animal and dog bites in week 42, against 5,898 in week 41. That is 130 more, a rise of about 2 per cent. The weekly count has stayed between 5,684 and 6,179 since week 37, so bites are steady at a high level rather than climbing fast.

These figures come from the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system, which collects reports from clinics and hospitals each week. The bulletin's own summary lists dog bites among the diseases that increased this week.

Every week since week 37 is in our dog bite tracker for Pakistan in 2026.

Ghotki leads Sindh with 355 bites, ahead of Naushero Feroze

Ghotki reported 355 bites in week 42, up from 290, and replaced Naushero Feroze at the top. Naushero Feroze had 349, almost the same as its 358 a week before. Shikarpur rose from 273 to 319 and Khairpur from 264 to 282.

Dadu moved the other way, from 312 to 271. Karachi's seven districts together reported 332 bites, close to last week's 338. Karachi Central had the most with 123, followed by Karachi West with 87 and Malir with 75.

Swat leads Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Mardan's count falls sharply

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 1,264 bites, down from 1,442. Swat again had the most with 204, down from 245. Bajaur rose from 114 to 157, and Shangla had 135. Lakki Marwat stayed at 90.

The biggest change is Mardan, which fell from 187 bites in week 41 to 24 in week 42. The bulletin does not explain it. A drop that large in one week can mean late or missing reports from some clinics, so we would not read it as a real fall until the next bulletin confirms it.

In Balochistan, Naseerabad had 24 bites, Kachhi 17 and Ziarat 16. Week 41 had a separate line for 5 suspected rabies cases in Balochistan. Week 42 has no rabies line at all.

What to do in the first hour after a dog bite

Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms start, but it can be prevented if treatment starts quickly. The week 41 bulletin asked health departments to give "immediate wound care, risk assessment, and timely rabies post-exposure prophylaxis". Post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, means the vaccine course and, for deep bites, an injection of rabies immunoglobulin.

1. Wash the wound with soap and running water for 15 minutes.
2. Do not stitch, bandage tightly or put chilli, oil or mud on it.
3. Go the same day to a hospital that gives the anti-rabies vaccine.
4. Ask whether you also need rabies immunoglobulin, especially for a bite on the face, head or hands.
5. Finish every dose on the dates the hospital gives you.

Our dog bite and rabies guide covers each step in more detail, and the vaccine price guide has the private cost of the rabies vaccine.

How we read the week 42 bulletin, and where it trips readers up

We opened the NIH weekly bulletin page on 12 November 2026. The week 42 file sits at the top of the list as a PDF of about 2.6 MB and 25 pages. The dog bite figures by province are in Table 1 on page 5, and the district tables for Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa follow on pages 7 to 11.

Two things slowed us down. Punjab's column reads NR, short for not reported, in every row, so the national total is not truly national. And the bulletin files are not named the same way each week: week 42 is 'Weekly Report-42-2026', but week 41 is 'IDSRS Weekly Report-41-2026-NA'. When we typed the week 41 address in the week 42 style, the site returned a web page instead of the PDF. Use the links on the list rather than guessing the address. Our guide to checking disease cases in your district from the NIH bulletin shows how to find your own district.

Common questions

How many dog bite cases did Pakistan report in week 42 of 2026?

6,028 animal and dog bites, up from 5,898 in week 41, according to the NIH bulletin posted on 11 November 2026.

Which district had the most dog bites?

Ghotki in Sindh, with 355. Naushero Feroze was second with 349 and Shikarpur third with 319.

How many dog bites were reported in Karachi?

332 across Karachi's seven districts, led by Karachi Central with 123.

Why is Punjab not in the count?

Punjab did not report into the NIH system in week 42. Its column reads "not reported" for every disease.

Were any rabies cases reported in week 42?

The week 42 bulletin has no rabies line. Week 41 listed 5 suspected rabies cases in Balochistan.

How we verified this

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

We downloaded the NIH IDSR bulletin for week 42 of 2026 from the NIH weekly bulletin page on 12 November 2026, and the week 41 bulletin from the same page. We used Table 1 for provinces and Tables 2, 3 and 4 for districts. All figures are suspected cases reported by health facilities. The bulletin does not say which animal caused each bite or explain district changes.