Good Friday flagellants face rabies risk

Penitents are nailed to wooden crosses during a Good Friday crucifixion re-enactment in Lourdes Northwest Village in Pampanga province, north of Manila, in this April 6, 2007 file photo. Dozens of men who whipped and cut their backs for a gory Good Friday ceremony in the Philippines risk contracting rabies after a fellow flagellant died of the virus earlier this month.

MANILA (Reuters) - Dozens of men who whipped and cut their backs for a gory Good Friday ceremony in the Philippines risk contracting rabies after a fellow flagellant died of the virus earlier this month.

The men shared a blade to rip their skin before flaying it to a pulp with a bamboo whip in the northern province of Pampanga. The ritual, which also involves voluntary crucifixions, is meant to mark the suffering of Jesus Christ.

Dr Maria Clara Aquino, a government doctor in Pampanga, said Tuesday that anti-rabies vaccines had been give to 103 people who could have been exposed to the virus.

Rabies is usually transmitted by a bite from an infected animal. The period between infection and the first flu-like symptoms is normally 3 to 12 weeks but can be as long as two years.

The mainly Catholic country's Good Friday spectacle began in 1962 as a village production but has grown over the years to become a media and tourist attraction.