ridecamp@endurance.net: RE: rabies thread

RE: rabies thread

Thomas, Barb (thomas@amgen.com)
Wed, 15 Oct 1997 17:55:40 -0700

Thanks to Duncan for his CDC post of confirmed rabies cases in the U.S.
The CDC report is for confirmed cases. Incidentally, no human that has
actually contracted the disease has survived it and the downward spiral
to death is devastating. A veterinary friend of mine stationed in
Southeast Asia watched one of the doctors there die from it. I lived in
Maryland where rabies is endemic in the raccoon (and other critter)
population. Watching a rabid raccoon come across the cornfield toward
me on my horse behind my own barn one afternoon was enough to make me
vaccinate all my animals. It is just too risky.
As far as the recent post about the puppies, if it is the same case, I
am quite familiar with it and the sad ending. The incident happened
several years ago. A litter of puppies was fostered for the animal
shelter by a woman I worked with and was adopted by several families in
the area. One of the puppies died with suspicious symptoms. The head
of the puppy was sent for rabies testing and confirmed positive. All
these puppies were over 10 weeks of age at adoption but were considered
too young for rabies shots. With the exception of one puppy, the rest
of the litter was destroyed. None of the littermates had rabies. The
living puppy was strictly quarantined in a pen away from the house and
watched for three months by animal control. In addition to the public
that was exposed to the "rabid" puppy, veterinarians and staff persons
in the clinics that handled the puppy underwent the post-exposure
treatment. Many months later, the woman who "tested" the puppy for
rabies was fired from her job. During an inventory of her frozen
samples, the puppy's head was found and had apparently never been tested
for rabies. I never heard if it was retested and have no idea if
testing that much later would be valid. This, of course, makes you
wonder what animal she actually tested and why, when rabies was
"confirmed" in such a young animal, retesting to verify the finding was
not done. A very sad 2=A2

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