By Maureen Anderson on Posted in Dogs,RabiesLast week, a sick raccoon in Hamilton, Ontario got into an altercation with two bull mastiffs in the back of an animal services van. The story quickly hit the media (and social media). Because the raccoon was not acting normally (and was actually reportedly very aggressive), it was euthanized. Because it also had direct contact with… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Other animals,RabiesThere are very few absolutes with infectious diseases. The minute we think we are sure about something, a new angle becomes apparent. Regarding rabies, we always say that its host range is mammals, but basically only mammals. Maybe not. There have been occasional (poorly corroborated) reports about rabies in birds, but when I first read headlines about this… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,Other animals,Rabies,VaccinationThe Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has launched its new (and long-awaited) rabies website. The site includes a section for the public which is an ideal resource for clients, and a section for veterinarians with detailed information about reporting, risk assessment, sample submission and testing, and post-exposure management (for companion animals and… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationWhen I saw “rabies socks“, my first thought was “someone’s going to be cursing their autocorrect“. Apparently not. The Ontario Association of Veterinary Technicians (OAVT) Rabies Response Program (RRP) World Rabies Day socks (they might want to come up with a shorter name) are on sale now, with a portion of the proceeds going to the… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationCDC has released a new dog importation poster along with an updated importation page on their website. Rules are still pretty lax (but stricter than in Canada), but more effective communication never hurts.… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,RabiesThe other day, I wrote about an effort to track down adopters of puppies from a litter in the Clay County, Texas, area after one of the puppies was confirmed to be rabid. At last report, 8 of the 9 remaining puppies have been located. Two of these puppies were adopted by one family, with… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,RabiesThere are lots of reasons not to get a puppy from Craigslist. While getting a rabid one isn’t likely, it can happen and result in a lot of trouble. Case and point: A litter of 9 puppies from Henrietta, Texas was recently advertized on Craigslist, and at least one of the adopted puppies had rabies.… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationImportation issues, Part 1 A Facebook post was forwarded to me the other day. It reads “Drove to the airport today to pick up this lovely little girl [puppy] who flew all the way to Montreal from Baku Azerbaijan. Spent the afternoon with her romping around in Westmount Park. She will be up for adoption… Continue Reading
By Maureen Anderson on Posted in RabiesThe new Ontario Animal Health Network, developed as part of the OMAFRA-UofG partnership under the Disease Surveillance Plan (DSP), has produced a number of podcasts on important topics for veterinarians. These podcasts are great for people on-the-go, as they can be downloaded and played anywhere on a portable device/phone, and they include discussions with experts… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesI’ve written a lot lately about importation of pets and associated infectious disease issues. A recent paper in the journal Zoonoses and Public Health (Sinclair et al, Dogs entering the United States from rabies-endemic countries, 2011-2012) provides some interesting data on this topic. Dogs entering the US from countries where rabies is present must be… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesIt’s that time of year. No, not for snow (although it is snowing here at the moment). It’s time for the annual US rabies surveillance report in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (Dyer et al. Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2013). The highlights… Over 5800 rabid animals were identified in… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesA reader recently posed a question about the potential risk of rabies virus exposure from running over a rabid animal. I get the "can I get rabies from touching roadkill?" question regularly, but this person had a different concern. “The other day I accidentally plowed right over an already-dead animal in the road. My air… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesA recent report about a rabid raccoon in New Brunswick highlights a few different issues regarding rabies exposure, and the marked differences in application and interpretation of various guidelines. The incident occurred in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, where a family came home "to find their 2 dogs excitedly circling around something in the yard. The… Continue Reading
By Maureen Anderson on Posted in RabiesRabies is a very serious disease. We’re very lucky in Canada that in most parts of the country the prevalence of this disease is now quite low, in large part due to wildlife control and vaccination efforts. Unfortunately that also seems to make some people quite lax when it comes to (common sense) things like… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesRabies in horses is pretty rare but far from unheard of, and each case should be a reminder of the need for proper vaccination. The latest US case was a horse in Newport, New York, but I haven’t yet been able to track down more details. Presumably, human and animal contacts are being investigated, with… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesFor an almost invariably fatal disease, people sometimes take a surprisingly lax approach to rabies prevention. Much attention is paid to vaccination of pets (well, not by everyone, but it’s pretty good) – and that’s great, but sometimes people do a better job of vaccinating their dogs than themselves. It’s not because they care about… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesThe other day, I wrote about a case of rabies not associated with a bite. An recent article in the Journal of Clinical Virology (Simani et al 2012) describes six other such cases from Iran. Case 1: A veterinary technician was infected through contact of broken skin with saliva. The man had scratched skin on his… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesToronto Public Health has confirmed the diagnosis of rabies in a person in the city of Toronto, the first such diagnosis since 1931. Details are limited at this point, but there appears to be strong suspicion that this is a travel-associated infection. The affected person is a 41-year-old man who was working in the Dominican… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesLast summer, I wrote about rabies in person from New Jersey, and now the full report about the case is available. The unfortunate victim was a 73-year-old Haitian women. She initially went to an emergency room with a complaint of right shoulder pain, chest pain, headaches and high blood pressure. Difficulty swallowing was also noted when… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesFollowing on the heels of a case of bat-associated rabies in a South Carolina woman, a Massachusetts man has contracted rabies. Little information is currently available, although authorities state that they believe he was exposed by a bat in his home. News reports state that he’s in critical condition but it’s unfortunately very unlikely that… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesA few more details are available about the apparent case of a person surviving rabies infection that I also wrote about in a post a few days ago. The affected individual is an eight-year-old girl from Willow Creek, California. She initially had non-specific signs of illness (which is not unusual for rabies) and at her… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesRabies in a lamb and cow at a petting zoo (or more accurately, in a communal group of hobby animals) has been reported in Israel. This follows identification of rabies in another lamb from the same group last week. Little is reported about possible sources of infection of these animals, at Kibbutz Neve Eitan, or… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesThe Philippine Information Agency has issued a press release detailing a rabies vaccination program for 5000 public school children in the province of Camiguin. This is prophylactic (preventive) vaccination, not post-exposure treatment. Routine rabies vaccination is recommended for people at increased risk of exposure. Classically, this involves veterinary personnel, people working with wildlife, people working with… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesA five-year-old Oklahoma boy is recovering after being attacked by a beaver. Beaver and attack aren’t two words that you usually put together, but in this case the boy went to pet a 60 lb beaver that he saw outside and it proceeded to attack him, taking a "chunk out of his calf" in the… Continue Reading
