Pet raccoon attackes baby, owners in denial
Raccoons are fascinating critters but they don't make good pets. Their curiosity makes them quite disruptive and damaging, and they have seriously injured people (particularly infants). They are also rabies vectors, and in many regions raccoon ownership (along with other wildlife species) is illegal (or only legal with a license). Despite all this, some people continue to keep raccoons as pets, and injuries continue to happen. Unfortunately, it's often not the owners that suffer the consequences, but children.
A one-week-old Griggville, Illinois baby is in hospital after being attacked by her grandparents' pet raccoon. The baby was in a room with the raccoon (not a good idea to start with), when the raccoon starting biting and scratching the baby's face and head. The raccoon's owner thinks the raccoon wasn't being vicious, just curious and trying to get a ribbon off of the baby.
"Rampy was trying to get the bow off the baby's head and it's got long claws and he was scratching up the head trying to get the bow off," said the owner.
Regardless, the fact that it caused severe injury indicates it's a hazard. (Wounds caused by accidents heal at the same rates as those caused my malice.)
Euthanasia of the raccoon was requested to test it for rabies. The owner countered that it had been vaccinated against rabies and dewormed (which raises the question of what veterinarian did this. I'd consider vaccinating and deworming an illegal pet unethical at best). Further, rabies vaccination does not guarantee that the raccoon isn't rabid. A judge eventually ordered the raccoon to be euthanized.
You'd think the raccoon's owners would be aghast at the attack. While I can see how they'd be attached to their pet, typically concern over a grandchild takes precedence. Not here, however, as the owners fought the euthanasia order and are railing against local authorities for having the raccoon euthanized after a potentially life-threatening attack. Even the infant's father is taken back by their attitude, stating "If it was somebody's dog that bit a kid, they'd be held accountable. These people should be held accountable for [the raccoon]."
Hepatitis C and cat scrathes
I had an advice call recently about the risk of hepatitis C transmission by cat scratches. Hepatitis C is a human virus that can cause serious liver disease. It is most commonly transmitted via the blood of infected individuals. The concern with cats in this case was whether there is a risk of transmission if a cat were to scratch someone with hepatitis C and then scratch someone else.
There are no reported cases of hepatitis C transmission via a cat scratch. For transmission to occur, the following must happen:
- The cat must scratch an infected person who has hepatitis C virus circulating in their bloodstream.
- The scratch must draw blood, which then contaminates the cat's claws.
- The virus must survive on the cat's claws.
- The cat must scratch someone else deep enough to draw blood.
- Hepatitis C virus must go from the cat's claws into the person's bloodstream and survive.
The odds of this sequence happening are very low. It's similar to the concerns about HIV transmission from dog bites - theoretically possible, never proven, and probably of very little concern.
This could be seen as similar to the situation with needlestick injuries in people: someone draws blood from an infected person, and then promptly sticks his or her finger with the needle by accident. Hepatitis C is not efficiently transmitted by needlesticks; only about 1.8% of people that get stuck in this manner (with a needle contaminated with blood from a hepatitis C-positive individual) develop antibodies against the virus. The risk is highest with hollow-bore needles (such as those used for injections and blood sampling) compared to needles used for sutures, because of the greater volume of blood that could be transferred via a hollow-bore needle. Cat scratches are presumably more like surgical needle punctures - there can only be contaminated blood on the outside of the claw, not inside it.
The only time I might have any concern would be if I suffered a significant scratch injury from a cat that had immediately before that caused a major injury in a hepatitis C-positive individual, such as in a situation that might be encountered when two people were breaking up a cat fight, or when someone was trying to pry an attacking cat off another person. It's a very unlikely scenario, and the associated risk would still be extremely low.
Bottom line: Don't worry about hepatitis C when around cats and infected people. Use common sense measures to avoid being scratched at all times.
Image source: www.gooddog.co.uk
