DR ‹ › A 59-year-old British grandmother who died four months after being scratched by a stray dog during a holiday in Morocco was only diagnosed with the fatal virus back home when it was already too late. An inquest into her death heard Tuesday that doctors were initially unaware of the incident in Morocco, write The Times. Yvonne Ford was scratched on February 10, 2025, after startling a stray dog on a Moroccan beach. The wound pierced her skin but appeared minor, and she did not seek treatment, cleaning it with a wet wipe instead. When she later developed hallucinations, disorientation and severe anxiety, medical teams in Barnsley suspected a mental health condition and were «not previously aware» of the dog bite, psychiatrist Alexander Burns told the jury. Burns said he only learned of the Morocco incident after asking about foreign travel. «I was informed by her husband that… Yvonne was bitten by a stray dog on a beach in Morocco», he said. He then became «concerned that the diagnosis may be rabies» given her neurological symptoms. Rabies, which experts described as «100 per cent fatal once symptoms begin to show» was confirmed too late. Ford died on June 11 after being transferred to an infectious diseases unit. Experts told the court that post-exposure vaccination can prevent the disease if administered before symptoms appear, but once they start, there is no cure.
