A five-kilometre-radius rabies quarantine zone was announced yesterday in Suan Luang District, as a dog at Soi On Nut 36 was found to be infected with the disease.

Livestock Development Department deputy director Jeerasak Pipattanapongsophon said the dog had bitten its owner and had also been in direct contact with four other dogs.

Jeerasak revealed that the owner found that the dog had been hit by a car in Samut Prakan’s Bang Pli district, so he had taken it to a veterinary hospital and adopted it as his pet.

However, the dog became more aggressive and bit the owner and later, last Saturday, laboratory tests confirmed that the dog was infected with rabies. The owner and four other dogs at his house have since had rabies vaccinations.

The other confirmed rabies cases were reported in Don Muang, Bang Khen, Bang Sue and Chatuchak districts.

Meanwhile, 86 people in Nakhon Si Thammarat have received rabies vaccinations after having direct contact with nine dogs diagnosed with the virus, a senior public health officer said yesterday.

Phaisarn Kua-aroon, the chief public health officer for the Nakhon Si Thammarat province, said the nine dogs were in Thungsong district (three), Cha-uad district (two) and one each in Chalerm Phrakiart, Thung Yai, Chulabhorn and Chianyai districts.

The province has been declared a yellow zone for rabies infection following the finding, Phaisarn added, and pet owners should immediately take their animals for a rabies vaccine.

Six people have died from rabies this year and there have been 484 cases of rabies infections in animals since the New Year.