Angola acts after rabies deaths

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A mass animal rabies vaccination scheme is under way in Angola after the deaths of 71 children from the disease in its capital over the last three months.

Local authorities in Luanda have also been rounding up stray dogs and cats.

But the BBC's Louise Redvers in Luanda says finding the animals in the city's overcrowded slums is not easy.

Rabies is a viral infection that affects the nervous system, transmitted to humans in saliva when they are bitten by an infected animal.

'Lot of worry'

"There's a lot of worry here, we have children, it's a worry for all mothers here," one woman told the BBC.

Our correspondent says the victims have been aged between three and 10 years old - and by the time they arrive at hospital, they cannot be saved.

Doctor Elinda Ferreira, who works at a paediatric hospital in the capital, appealed for dog owners to get their animals vaccinated.

Angola, which is rich in oil and diamonds, is in a period of reconstruction after 27 years of civil war.

One in four children in Angola die before their fifth birthday - one of the worst child mortality rates in the world.