Ranchi: The city has recorded the highest number of dog bite cases in Jharkhand, with 10,400 reported till Aug, according to the health department’s data on Tuesday.During the same period, the state recorded 72,046 dog bite cases, already exceeding the 61,332 reported during 2025. Ranchi’s cases account for nearly 14% of the state’s total reported till Aug this year. The issue assumes significance as the state observes ‘World Rabies Awareness Week’ till Sept 28 to create awareness on rabies prevention and timely treatment.Ranchi has recorded a sharp increase in dog bite cases over the years. “In 2021, the district recorded 3,056 dog bite cases, 4,589 in 2022, 4,234 in 2023, 9,532 in 2024 and 11,557 in 2025, recording a substantial increase over the years,” a health department official said on Tuesday.The latest figures from the department’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) show a sharp rise in reported dog bite cases across Jharkhand over the past few years. The state recorded 31,490 cases in 2021, 24,692 in 2022, 41,136 in 2023, 54,780 in 2024 and 61,332 in 2025.Director of the Jharkhand chapter of National Health Mission (NHM), Shashi Prakash Jha, on Monday directed civil surgeons and district nodal officers of the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) to organise various awareness programmes till Sept 28 focusing on this year’s World Rabies Day theme — ‘stronger together’.“To make India free of human rabies by 2030 under the vision of ‘Vision-2030 — A Rabies-Free Nation’, awareness programmes on animal bite management will be conducted at the district, block and urban levels, including municipal corporations, municipal councils, community health centres, urban and rural areas, Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, urban CHCs/PHCs, anganwadi centres and medical colleges. The programmes will focus on providing the public with correct information on rabies prevention and management,” Jha said.
