Five people have died from rabies in Beijing as of Monday, with close to 70,000 people in the capital reporting being bitten by dogs in the first half of the year, local health authorities said yesterday.

Only one of the five people who died in Beijing contracted rabies in the city. The four others came down with the disease in other parts of the country and were rushed to the capital for treatment.

The man who contracted the fatal disease in Beijing was not a permanent resident. He raised pigs and may have been infected by a dog that he had brought from his hometown, the Beijing Health Bureau reported.

Everyone who reported being bitten by a dog in Beijing was inoculated against rabies and none of them developed the disease, the bureau said.

While it appears Beijing has been able to control the disease, which causes an agonizing death, other parts of the country are reporting serious increases in the disease.

The Ministry of Health reports that 2,660 people died from rabies in 2004, while in 1996 only 159 fatalities were reported from the disease. The ministry also reports that in 2004 rabies accounted for slightly more than 35 percent of all deaths from its list of 37 infectious diseases.

East China's Shandong Province reported 46 cases of rabies by the end of July, more than double the rate for the same period last year.

An outbreak of rabies killed 16 people in 14 townships around Jining City in Shandong prior to August 3.

Wang Ya, a member of the Shandong Provincial People's Political Consultative Conference, said an explosion in the number of pet dogs is a major factor in the increase in rabies cases.

Experts say pet owners who abandon their dogs are mainly responsible for the increasing rate of the disease as stray dogs that have not been vaccinated are most likely to contract rabies.

China has some 150 million pet dogs, according to estimates.

Rabies, often spread by dog bites, attacks the nervous system and is fatal in humans if not treated prior to the onset of symptoms.

Vaccination is the key to preventing rabies, said Wei Haitao, head of the Beijing General Center of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary.

Wei said Beijing has set up 91 rabies vaccination centers in eight urban districts. Additionally, 186 townships in the 10 suburban districts and counties have also set up anti-rabies vaccination centers.

The Beijing Health Bureau warned pet owners who have not yet registered their dogs that their pets must be vaccinated against rabies. Dog breeding farms must be at least 500 meters from residential areas and water sources, and must carry out strict vaccination measures.