Bali, Java and Rabies
 

We are planning a trip for June and I just heard from our travelling companions that rabies seems to be a problem in these areas. I haven't seen anything on these boards to suggest that rabies is an issue. Can anyone familiar with the area provide some input? Thanks!

I'm just back from Indonesia, and in fact I go there (including Bali) on business every two or three months. I have never heard that rabies is a 'problem' there. For that matter, stray dogs are a bit more of a rarity in Indonesia than elsewhere in SE Asia.

Read about rabies and rabies vaccines at www.cdc.gov/travel

The place in the world with the greatest incidence of human rabies is India. While you should always be cautious around stray dogs (or monkeys), no other precautions are recommended for Indonesia.

FromDC, Although Indonesia has plenty of disease issues, in the 12 years that I've lived here I've never heard of anyone -- local, expat or tourist -- contracting rabies.

You don't see many stray dogs in Java because they aren't acceptable in Islamic culture, but there are many, many on Bali. They generally get taken care of by the villagers, though, and disease isn't prevalent (though they may LOOK fairly unkempt).

I would strongly suggest staying away from the monkeys -- don't feed them, don't photograph them, don't encourage them. I've never heard of rabid monkeys but they are definitely mean and aggressive.

Thank you everyone for such a quick response. I hope this will reassure my sister.