Cat-scratch fever strikes Beijing

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When delivering their analysis of the latest stock market or economic growth figures, China hands often warn, “You can’t trust any statistics coming out of Beijing, so take these numbers with a grain of salt.”

Here’s an example that shows why that’s sound advice. Faced with an outbreak of rabies, Beijing city authorities introduced a “one dog” policy last fall. And now they’re reporting a rash of pet attacks:

BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) — More than 90,000 people in Beijing were injured by cats and dogs in the first six months of this year, up almost 34 percent from the same period last year, the local government said.

Unleashed pet dogs were blamed for most animal attacks, though a small percentage of the victims were cat keepers suffering from scratches, with symptoms including swollen lymph nodes and fever, said the Beijing management office for pet dogs, where pet dogs are registered and vaccinated.

So where did they get this number? I suspect they just made it up. I mean, are we supposed to believe that people in Beijing call up the government to report that their cat scratched them?