Harare – At least 500 Zimbabweans are bitten by dogs every week across the country, with most of the dogs unvaccinated, the health ministry said.
The statistics were compiled for the week ending May 25, 2025, before a pitbull killed a Harare man Samuel Machara,39, in Bluff Hill suburb.
The owner of the dogs Mike Mupinga,40, was arrested and is facing culpable homicide charges at the Harare magistrates court.
”Report for the Week ending 25 May 2025, 492 dog bite cases and no deaths were reported this week. Of the reported cases, 84 (17%)were bitten by vaccinated dogs, 115 (23%)by unvaccinated dogs and 292 (60%) by dogs of unknown status,” said the Ministry of Health and Child Care in it’s weekly disease surveillance report.
”The highest number of dog bite cases reported were from Manicaland Province (88), Masvingo Province (78) and Midlands (78).”
Zimbabweans have been calling for the ban of vicious dog breeds such as the pitbull among others to prevent tragic deaths like the one that killed Machara last week.
In January, a Harare man was killed by his pitbull dogs that he kept at his house in Sunningdale.
In 2023, a security guard was mauled to death by pitbulls in Harare.
Pitbulls are known to be vicious dogs that are aggressive to people they are not familiar with.
Some countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Italy have banned pitbulls.
In other disease statistics for the week ending May 25, the health ministry recorded 6 768 malaria cases and 18 deaths were reported.
And 4 356 common diarrhoea cases and 2 deaths as well as 5 861 suspected influenza cases and no deaths were reported.