Woman rescues stray puppy, dies of rabies

A woman has died after catching rabies from a stray puppy while on holiday with friends.
Birgitte Kallestad, 24, was riding mopeds with pals in the Philippines when she came across the animal, according to reports. The puppy is thought to have infected her when it bit her after the group took it back to their resort. After returning to her home in Norway, Birgitte soon became unwell.
She died on Monday in the hospital where she was a health worker two months after the bite, the BBC reports. She had been receiving treatment there for eight days. Birgitte’s family has called for compulsory rabies vaccines for Norwegians travelling to the Philippines. Health officials have been in touch with 77 people who had been in contact with her, Mail Online reports. It is believed 31 of those have now been vaccinated. Birgitte is the first person to die from the virus in Norway in over 200 years. The Philippines has declared rabies a public health problem. Around 200 people die from a rabies related ill ness there every year.