I write a lot about animal bites, and for good reason since they are common and can be very severe. Usually, it’s dog bites. Sometimes it’s cat bites, or more rarely injuries from birds or other critters. Monkey bites not so much, but they happen. I had an email question about rabies exposure from
Ferret legging…a sport?
With the lingering NHL strike, TV networks are looking for replacement sports. One of my PhD students (who claims he doesn’t spend too much time playing around on the internet but keeps coming up with these gems) sent me information about one sport that’s not coming to a network near you.
Yes, it’s ferret
Boy Scouts not so prepared this time
Earlier this year, a troop of Boy Scouts in the US beat off a rabid beaver that was attacking their leader (I wonder if there’s a badge for that). Boy Scouts and infectious diseases are in the news again, but not with as happy a story.
Another rabid beaver
I don’t know whether it’s because
a) there are more rabid beavers these days,
b) rabid beavers have always been around in these numbers but they have recently acquired a taste for human flesh, or
c) it’s just a fluke,
but another rabid beaver was recently reported in the US.
The latest incident involved a
2011 US Rabies recap
The annual US rabies surveillance report has been published in the latest edition of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (Blanton et al 2012). There’s not really anything earth-shattering in it, but it’s a good overview of the rabies diagnoses in the US from 2011. As always, it only provides a
More dumb pet problems
No, I’m not referring to pets lacking in intelligence (my dog Meg leads that category). Rather, I’m talking about questionable decisions by pet owners. Here are a few bewildering stories:
- The Indian River Reptile Zoo near Peterborough, Ontario, rushed some of their stock of snake anti-venom to Brantford General Hospital (about three hours away) to
Killer rabbits and other strange rabid animals
Rabies is most commonly reported in dogs, skunks, raccoons, bats and a few other species. However, any mammal is susceptible, and sometimes unusual cases are identified.
1. In a serious take on Monty Python’s "killer rabbit," a rabid bunny has caused a lot of problems in Chom Thong, Thailand.
The pet rabbit, Poko, had been
Petting zoo deficiencies
We’re fully into petting zoo season now, with these types of exhibits appearing at a variety of agricultural fairs and similar events. This also unfortunately means that we’re into petting zoo outbreak season, since there’s always some risk of disease associated with the type of animal contact people have at these displays. There are some
African Dwarf Frogs info sheet
In response to Salmonella outbreaks linked to these critters, their popularity as pets for young kids, and efforts to ban them in some areas, we’ve developed an info sheet regarding African Dwarf Frogs. As with our other info sheets, it discusses the good and bad points of owning these little guys, things to consider when
Ok…maybe we should think about zebras sometimes
The old saying is "when you hear hoof-steps, think horses, not zebras." In a medical context, it means common things occur commonly, so don’t start off thinking about wild and bizarre conditions before you’ve ruled out the usual suspects. Along that line, when I hear "rabies," I think "bats, raccoons, dogs, cats