Perak Veterinary Services Department director Dr Fuziah Muhayat said this was a preventive measure taken to mitigate the risk of the disease spreading in the district.

She added that during the same period, the department also euthanised 72 stray dogs, and that samples were taken for analysis at the Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) here.

“Of the 10 samples, five have been analysed and found negative for rabies,” she told a press conference after a Perak State Rabies Epidemic Control Action Committee meeting here today.

The Matang district has been gazetted a rabies-infected area since Monday after a dog died on July 12 from the disease, nine days after it bit two girls.

The girls have since shown rabies symptoms and are being monitored.