- Hello Jeff -- I think that we are going to see a bad
summer for Rabies. People need to know how to avoid rabid animal bites
and, if bitten, MUST seek immediate health care.
-
- Too many times we hear of someone bitten by a bat or
other rabid animal who does not seek help and ends up dying of rabies.
-
- The case of the young teen bitten in a church by a bat
in Wisconsin was indeed sad. After being bitten by the bat the church
members captured the bat and set it free. The young teen was one of the
few cases to survive full blown rabies and the treatment implemented is
known as the Wisconsin protocol.
-
- Unfortunately, the Wisconsin Protocol has been used...but
has not been successful on subsequent Rabies cases.
-
- I think we are seeing a higher than normal amount of
Rabies across the entire US from New Hampshire to Texas and people need
to be aware of Rabies and what to do if bitten by a Rabid animal.
-
- Many people do not realize that horses are at risk to
contract Rabies. I always advised clients to vaccinate their
horses against Rabies. This is one of the very few vaccines that I endorse.
-
- There is NO CURE for Rabies and we must protect ourselves
by vaccinating our pets and livestock. Horses and Cattle can and do get
Rabies.
-
- Patty
-
- ProMed Mail
-
- RABIES, EQUINE, SKUNKS - USA (TEXAS)
- By Mike Leggett
- The Austin-American Statesman (edited)
- 5-10-7
-
-
- The racehorse in training had been in 2 different stables
and 2 veterinarians' clinics before the sickening diagnosis was handed
down: rabies. The female horse died 2 hours after she arrived at Dr Dan
McBride's Burnet Veterinary Clinic last week and was the case that prompted
a state-issued rabies alert for Burnet County.
-
- After confirming 4 cases in 2005 and 14 last year [2006],
the Hill Country county that adjoins Travis on the north west already has
11 confirmed cases in 2007, most of them in skunks. "We're way ahead
of schedule," said McBride, who serves as the county's animal health
officer. There's a high varmint population right now. They run in cycles,
and we're at an all-time high."
-
- McBride and Burnet County Health Authority Dr Juliette
Madrigal are cautioning not only county residents, but also all Central
Texas residents to vaccinate their pets and some domestic livestock against
rabies and to be careful about approaching wild or feral animals. "If
people are exposed, we can vaccinate," Madrigal said. "But it's
extremely expensive, and we have to know there's been exposure to rabies.
One man died (about 5 years ago) from a raccoon strain of rabies, and nobody
knew he'd ever been exposed."
-
- Once animals or humans begin exhibiting symptoms of the
disease -- which usually has a 10 to 14 day exposure period, but can be
much longer -- nothing that can be done. "It is 100 per cent fatal
after it develops," Madrigal said, though there is one documented
case of a 15 year old Wisconsin girl who was bitten by a bat in 2004, spent
11 weeks in the hospital and still survived even though she hadn't had
a vaccination.
-
- Since 1990, 39 fatal cases of rabies in humans have been
confirmed, McBride said, citing statistics from the World Health Organization
(WHO). Another 39 000 people were treated for rabies exposure. "Any
animals outside should be vaccinated," McBride said. "I recommend
that people vaccinate horses, too. The horse that died last week was in
a stable and still was exposed (to a skunk). Any animals that people are
around need to be vaccinated."
-
- McBride said he saw the horse stumbling and slobbering
in a trailer and quickly tried to keep his employees and the horse's owners
away from the animal. It was too late for one employee, however, who had
to be vaccinated against the disease, at a cost of USD 1900.
-
- McBride said most animals in a pasture will naturally
shy away from wild animals that are acting strangely, but he has a particular
concern about those raised by youths for [collegiate] 4-H and FFA [Future
Farmers of America, agricultural education] shows. "Show goats are
one animal that should be vaccinated," he said. "They are usually
in small enclosures, and the kids are around them every day; and most of
those kids who go down to the barn have a dog that goes with them. Everything
should be protected. It's a lot cheaper than having to get the rabies vaccine
after you're exposed."
-
- Rabies is an ancient disease that has evolved in different
strains specific to certain animals. Bats, raccoons, and skunks, for instance,
all have their own specific strain of rabies.
-
- In Harris County, 26 rabies cases have been reported
this year [2007], all of them in bats. Nearby Wharton County has 30 confirmed
cases, 28 of them in skunks. Travis County has seen 105 cases the past
2 years [2006, 2007], 97 of them in bats. In rural areas of Central Texas,
skunks, coyotes, and foxes are common rabies hosts and carriers, McBride
said.
-
- A more recent rabies problem has developed in feral cats,
which have proved impossible to vaccinate. "That's another hot spot,"
McBride said. "We can't get them vaccinated, and we know it."
He warns people not to try to capture and vaccinate wild cats. "Somebody
tries to hold that cat, they get scratched or bitten, and the animal gets
away, and they still have to take the (anti-rabies) shots," McBride
said.
-
- Dealing With Rabies
-
- * vaccinate household pets every year.
- * avoid contact with animals that are acting strangely
or aggressively. 'If you see a skunk or a coon or a bat in the daytime
right now, it probably has rabies,' said Dr Juliette Madrigal of the Burnet
County Health Authority.
- * do not shoot the sick animal or burn or bury a
dead animal suspected of having rabies. Call an animal control officer
to have it picked up and tested.
- * warn children about approaching sick or strange
animals. Ask them to report any contact they or their friends may have
had with an infected animal.
- * seek treatment immediately. Once signs of the
disease appear in humans, there is no treatment, and it is virtually always
fatal.
-
- Rabies Cases In Central Texas
-
- Though rabies cases in other area counties are on pace
with last year [2006], Burnet County has nearly equaled its 2006 total
in just 4 months.
-
- Skunks have accounted for 9 of the 11 cases this yea
[2007] there. Meanwhile, bats make up the majority of rabies cases in Travis
and Williamson counties, accounting for 129 of the 149 rabies reports in
those counties the past 2 years.
-
- County 2006 / 2007
- Bastrop 11 / 1
- Bell 4 / 1
- Blanco 0 / 0
- Burnet 14 / 11
- Caldwell 1 / 0
- Gillespie 4 / 2
- Hays 5 / 0
- Lampasas 1 / 0
- Llano 2 / 0
- Mason 2 / 1
- Travis 97 / 8
- Williamson 39 / 5
-
-
- Source: Texas Department of State Health Services
-
- http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/10/10rabies.html
-
-
- communicated by:
- ProMED-mail rapporteur Joseph P Dudley, PhD
-
- The article refers to one rabies case who survived, after
showing clinical signs [see Rabies, human, bat - USA (WI) (07): recovery
20041231.3459]. Use of the same protocol in other individuals has not yet
met with the same success.
-
- The veterinarian is correct in saying all animals should
be vaccinated, including horses, goats, sheep, dogs, cats, and yes, cattle
as well. Especially vaccinate the cattle that you or your children may
be showing. Vaccination is cheap insurance compared to the consequences
of the disease or the cost of post exposure prophylaxis.
-
- A map of the counties of Texas may be seen at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/texas_map.html.
- Travis County is where the state capitol, Austin, is
located. Burnet County is just north of Travis County. - Mod.TG
-
- [see also:
- Rabies, raccoon - USA (NY) 20070506.1471
- Rabies, canine, human exposure - USA (VA)20070503.1433
- Rabies, skunks - USA (TX) 20070503.1431
- Rabies, equine - USA (NH): correction, RI 20070428.1387
- Rabies, equine - USA (NH) 20070426.1364
- Rabies, human, 2006 - USA (IN, CA): treatment failure
20070420.1301
- Rabies, canine, human post exposure treatment - USA (NC)
20070104.0040
- Rabies, coyote - USA (PA) 20070101.0002
- 2004
- ---
- Rabies, human, bat - USA (WI) (07): recovery 20041231.3459]
-
- .......tg/mj/sh
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
|
