January 29, 2026
In Lanzac, a locality in the commune of Montrouis, fear has taken hold following a series of deaths caused by canine rabies. Five people died in September after being bitten by stray dogs, plunging the population into a climate of anxiety and despair.
Residents, overwhelmed by the rapid spread of the disease, sometimes interpret the symptoms as mystical manifestations. Lacking information and medical assistance, rumors of “lougarous” (werewolves) have resurfaced—illustrating the distress of a community left to fend for itself.
The Pierre Payen Health Center, which is supposed to cover the area, has neither qualified staff nor the means to treat rabies. “No public institution or NGO has grasped the scale of the danger,” lamented Patrick Estimé, a local educator and journalist, who is calling for urgent mobilization from the Ministry of Public Health.
A month after the first deaths, health authorities have undertaken neither a vaccination campaign nor any preventive measures. In Montrouis—where land conflicts and insecurity already dominate daily life—this silent epidemic once again exposes the human cost of the State’s disengagement.
