A TOTAL of 23,013 cases of rabies and 24 deaths were recorded in Bulacan in 2023, the Bulacan Provincial Health Office (PHO) reported.Based on the 2023 Rabies Prevention and Control Program Accomplishment Report of the PHO-Public Health, animal bite cases in Bulacan increased by 4 percent in the year 2023 with 53,013 cases compared to 50,809 cases in 2022 from the 3.8 million population in the province.

According to PHO-Public Health head Edwin Tecson, out of the 24 local government units in Bulacan, 13 were affected, including the City of San Jose del Monte and Pandi with reported four cases; Santa Maria with three cases; San Miguel, Dona Remedios Trinidad and San Rafael with two cases each; and the rest — Bustos, San Ildefonso, Paombong, Marilao, Baliwag, Norzagaray and the City of Meycauayan — have one case each.