October 6, 2004: Headlines: Infectious Disease: Animals: Dogs: Rabies: Daily Astorian: When I was working in West Africa, a Peace Corps volunteer told me that a dog suspected of having rabies was seen near her village. The villagers hid inside their homes while the animal and all other stray dogs in the area were round up and shot. She commented that the rabid dog was even more terrifying to her neighbors than the poisonous snakes in the fields. A human can survive a snakebite, but rabies is nearly always fatal.
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October 6, 2004: Headlines: Infectious Disease: Animals: Dogs: Rabies: Daily Astorian: When I was working in West Africa, a Peace Corps volunteer told me that a dog suspected of having rabies was seen near her village. The villagers hid inside their homes while the animal and all other stray dogs in the area were round up and shot. She commented that the rabid dog was even more terrifying to her neighbors than the poisonous snakes in the fields. A human can survive a snakebite, but rabies is nearly always fatal.
When I was working in West Africa, a Peace Corps volunteer told me that a dog suspected of having rabies was seen near her village. The villagers hid inside their homes while the animal and all other stray dogs in the area were round up and shot. She commented that the rabid dog was even more terrifying to her neighbors than the poisonous snakes in the fields. A human can survive a snakebite, but rabies is nearly always fatal.
When I was working in West Africa, a Peace Corps volunteer told me that a dog suspected of having rabies was seen near her village. The villagers hid inside their homes while the animal and all other stray dogs in the area were round up and shot. She commented that the rabid dog was even more terrifying to her neighbors than the poisonous snakes in the fields. A human can survive a snakebite, but rabies is nearly always fatal.
Exposure to rabies is usually fatal
By Kathryn B. Brown, FNP
East Oregonian Publishing Group
kbbrown@eastoregonian.com
When I think of rabies, I always remember the scene from “To Kill a Mockingbird” in which Atticus Finch bravely faces a rabid dog on the street of Maycomb, Ala. He shoots the mad beast dead in its tracks and impresses his children, who didn’t know their father was the best shot in the county.
When I was working in West Africa, a Peace Corps volunteer told me that a dog suspected of having rabies was seen near her village. The villagers hid inside their homes while the animal and all other stray dogs in the area were round up and shot. She commented that the rabid dog was even more terrifying to her neighbors than the poisonous snakes in the fields. A human can survive a snakebite, but rabies is nearly always fatal.
About 50,000 people die of rabies each year worldwide; most of these are in Africa, Asia and Latin America. About 10 million people receive post-exposure treatment after being bitten by an animal suspected of having rabies. Without this treatment, countless more would die.
In the United States, human rabies is very rare. There were only 42 human cases between 1980 and 2000. Thirteen of these cases were acquired in other countries. Of the rest, two were caused by dog bites, one by a skunk and the remaining 26 by bats. All of these cases of rabies were fatal to their victims.
Most of the 26 Americans who died of bat rabies knew they had contact with a bat, but only two had evidence of an actual bite. We know that rabies is transmitted via the saliva of infected animals, but bat bites may occur while a person is sleeping, or may be very small and go unnoticed.
In the Pacific Northwest, bats are the animal most likely to transmit rabies to a human. Since the 1950s, the near-universal vaccination of household pets such as dogs, cats and ferrets has significantly decreased the risk of rabies from these animals.
Nationwide, bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes and coyotes are the species most likely to carry rabies. In Oregon and Washington, since 1990, these animals have tested positive for rabies:
• Bats: 293.
• Foxes: 17.
• Cats: 5.
• Dog, horse, llama, cow: 1 each.
These animals probably were exposed to rabies through being bitten by a rabid bat.
Rabies affects the nervous system, so animals with rabies often behave strangely, and may be aggressive and lose their natural fear of humans. Nocturnal animals (such as bats and foxes) with rabies may be seen during the day.
In humans, rabies can cause fever, confusion, delirium and paralysis. Throat muscles can spasm, so the person refuses to drink water (hence the term “hydrophobia,” meaning fear of water).
If a human has contact with a bat or other animal that could have rabies, the post-exposure treatment consists of an injection of rabies immune globulin, plus a series of five rabies vaccine shots given on days 0, 3, 7, 14 and 28 after the exposure. (These shots are given in the upper arm, no longer in the stomach.)
Some people should get the rabies vaccine prior to any exposure:
• Veterinarians and wildlife workers who may be exposed to rabid animals.
• Laboratory workers who deal with the rabies virus.
• Travelers to developing countries where rabies rates are higher and post-exposure treatment may not be available.
The pre-exposure rabies vaccine consists of three shots, given on days 0, 7, and 21 or 28. It is expensive, but worth considering for those at risk. Even with the pre-exposure vaccine series, a person exposed to rabies will need two additional rabies vaccines. One should be given immediately, with the second given three days later.
Kathryn B. Brown is a family nurse practitioner with a master’s degree in nursing from OHSU. Is there a health topic you would like to read about? Send ideas to kbbrown@eastoregonian.com. You can find more local health news and information in the Health section at www.dailyastorian.info
When this story was posted in October 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Governor Schwarzenegger praised the Peace Corps at the Republican National Convention: "We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village children." Schwarzenegger has previously acknowledged his debt to his father-in-law, Peace Corps Founding Director Sargent Shriver, for teaching him "the joy of public service" and Arnold is encouraging volunteerism by creating California Service Corps and tapping his wife, Maria Shriver, to lead it. Leave your comments and who can come up with the best Current Events Funny? |
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Story Source: Daily Astorian
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Infectious Disease; Animals; Dogs; Rabies
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By Katie lynn ross (cpe0050ba0bb840-cm001225007734.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com - 72.140.132.86) on Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 8:02 am: Edit Post |
Dear pepole I'm katie and this is my frind Hannah
we love animals and we think that rabbies is tearing them apart.So we wish you the best of all luck saving. I hope that some day rabbies will come to a and. 
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By katie lynn ross (cpe0050ba0bb840-cm001225007734.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com - 72.140.132.86) on Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 5:23 pm: Edit Post |
Dear pepole I'm Katie me and my friend Ailona have cats and we would like to know what kind of signs of having ribbies for them we would just like to know so that wecould help them if they ever have rabbies.
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By Kayla (70.240.185.233) on Thursday, October 30, 2008 - 5:43 pm: Edit Post |
OK so I had to do an timeline report about Old Yeller for school and was lookinng on Google images when I saw ths and I have to say, 5 cats from 1990-2004 that's once every 3 years. almost and that's not much, which is good because I have a cat that I love very much. 
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By Kayla (70.240.185.233) on Thursday, October 30, 2008 - 5:43 pm: Edit Post |
OK so I had to do an timeline report about Old Yeller for school and was lookinng on Google images when I saw ths and I have to say, 5 cats from 1990-2004 that's once every 3 years. almost and that's not much, which is good because I have a cat that I love very much.
