Rabies-free Bali by 2012: Official

The government expects to eliminate rabies in the country's leading tourist resort of Bali by 2012, just after infection claimed over 30 lives since 2008, an official said.

“Dog population in Bali is [about] 500,000 and 380,000 of them have been vaccinated,"  Rita Kusriastuti, the Ministry of Health's Director for Zoonotic Diseases Control said Friday in Jakarta.

She said vaccination had been proved to be the right method to fight rabies.

Since November 2008, 75 fatalities have died allegedly from rabies in Bali, but only 35 were tested positive.

The Ministry of Health data reveals that 125 people across the country died of rabies annually, lower than the Philippines’ 200 to 300 cases each year.

The United States and Australia have issued travel advices related to rabies outbreak for their citizens who plan to visit Indonesia.