Dangers of bites in south-east Asia: Dogs, monkeys and mosquitoes

Don't pat the dogs. Don't cuddle the monkeys.

This seems to me like good advice. In fact, it feels like a no-brainer. Why would you pat a dog when you're travelling in a developing country? Why would you pick up and cuddle someone's pet monkey? Why would you intentionally come into contact with any animal, in fact, that has teeth or fangs or claws?

And yet, people do. I see this insanity all the time on the road. Dog lovers can't help themselves – they want to make sure all of the cute animals are getting enough love. They pat them, they feed them, they scratch them. I even met an Australian guy in India who'd adopted a stray dog he'd named Charlie. The man was riding around the country on an Enfield motorbike with his new pet pooch tucked into a satchel on his chest.

Cat lovers, too, have a tendency to want to pat stray felines they discover in dodgy places. I also travelled with a friend in Laos who spent a few hours one day with someone's pet monkey hanging around on her shoulder. It was a pet, after all, so perfectly harmless. Right?

Actions like these are probably part of the temptation Western travellers have to assume that everything in other countries is as safe as it is in our own. Dogs are dogs. And monkeys are awesome. Obviously, you'd want to give them a pat when you see them. Maybe throw them a few scraps of food.

But you're putting yourself in danger. Unnecessary danger. One bite from a dog or a monkey or any other animal and you've just committed yourself to a series of five anti-rabies injections. That is, if you can find someone who can administer them. Otherwise you're in even bigger trouble. One scratch from a cat and at the very least you've got a visit to the doctor to arrange.

This might all sound a bit obvious, but it happens. A lot. And mostly to travellers heading to south-east Asia.

In 2016, Cover-More Travel Insurance paid out more than $400,000 for claims related to bites from various animals. Those bites, admittedly, weren't just for monkey-cuddlers and dog-petters. That $400,000 accounted for people bitten by snakes, by lice, by spiders, and by one of the big ones: mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes carry malaria, dengue fever, Zika, and a litany of exotic tropical diseases that can barely even be classified. There's not a whole lot you can do about mosquito bites when you're travelling, aside from the usual advice to cover up and use repellent. And even if you do, it could still happen, particularly in south-east Asia.