The final picture of a man who died of rabies after being bitten by a rabid cat in Morocco
Omar Zouhri – the last photo. Photo: Mirrorpix.
This is the final picture of a British man with duel nationality who was bitten by a stray cat in Morocco. His name is Omar Zouhri. The cat happened to be infected with rabies and therefore he became infected.
Regrettably, he did not obtain post exposure treatment for this fatal disease early enough and he struggled towards the end to swallow or breathe. He died in the same hospital his daughter age 4 had passed away 10 years ago.
Omar had bravely battled the disease for months. He was bitten on August 30, 2018 and he died on November 4, 2018. That gives us the sort of timeframe it takes for rabies to kill a person from the initial bite.
I don’t want to be morbid about this but it is rare and therefore interesting to examine as sensitively as possible this case. We are told, incidentally, that two other people died of rabies having been bitten by the same cat. There were two children. I’m not completely sure that that information is correct but we been told it online.
In fact, the information coming out of the news media is rather vague. For instance, Omar’s wife said that he was given a rabies jab and antibiotics in Morocco after the bite. We have also been told that he was given a tetanus jab. Further, we are told that staff at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the UK and allegedly advised him to use anti-itching cream on the bite. We don’t know how promptly he was given the usual rabies vaccination jabs after the bite. He was transferred to the John Radcliffe Hospital.
It is possible to successfully deal with a rabies infection provided post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is given early enough. The jabs cost more than $3,000 in the US incidentally.
Apparently, on November 3, at the UK hospital, he was told that he had two weeks to live but he passed away the next day. Throughout the ordeal he knew that he was dying and was able to talk to and be aware of people around him. He was fearful of water and couldn’t touch cold things. He died in agony we are told although he was sedated. I suspect that that is all they could do for him at that stage.
Source: The Sun and PoC.
Moroccan cat rabies case reminds us prompt PEP (Post Exposure Prophylaxis) can save your life
