Bogota - Colombian health authorities were on alert over a cat with rabies who had contact with schoolchildren and provoked the death of one of them Thursday. Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio travelled to Santander de Quilichao, in the Cauca province in south-western Colombia, in order to coordinate tasks including the search for the cat and the distribution of thousands of doses of anti-rabies vaccines.
The father of the dead boy, 12, said the incident happened two weeks earlier, when a cat showed up in the girls' bathroom at a school in Santander de Quilichao.
The cat was reportedly stroked by at least 35 schoolchildren, but suddenly got aggressive and bit and scratched several of them.
During the Easter holidays, six of the children started to feel ill and had to be taken to hospital. Following a diagnosis of rabies, the patients were taken to the city of Cali for specialist care.
One boy died Thursday, shortly after being disconnected from an artificial respirator.
Palacio was very worried, and noted that such cases of rabies are usually fatal.
The Social Protection Ministry sent to Santander de Quilichao 10,000 doses of vaccines for cats and dogs, and 1,500 for human use.
