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.
