I spend a lot of time answering questions about rabies exposures, and sometimes trying to clear up misinformation. Rabies is a very important infectious disease but in many regions (like here) it’s fortunately rare in domestic animals and people. However, rarity can breed complacency or lack of (or loss of) knowledge. That creates problems when
More dog travel issues
Importation 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
Another dog importation issue
A GoFundMe campaign is underway to pay the vet bills for a sick dog that was imported from Ecuador. The whole story can be found on the site but the quick version is as follows:
Someone from the Ottawa area was in Quito and saw a street puppy she liked. On her last day in
Out of bounds, out of luck
From CTVnews.ca "A Brazilian [soccer] player was taken to a hospital for an anti-rabies shot after being bitten by a police dog during a match. The incident happened in the second half of a first-division game between Democrata and Tupi on Sunday in the Minas Gerais state regional championship. Democrata striker Joao Paulo
Rabies warning for Kugluktuk residents
Residents of the Nunavut community of Kugluktuk are being warned about rabies in the area after a puppy that originated there was diagnosed with the disease in Saskatchewan. It’s not the first time rabies has been transported from a northern community in a dog, and this case should serve as yet another reminder of
Human rabies incubation record
Records are meant to be broken, and rabies incubation period is no exception.
I’m often asked what the incubation period of rabies is in people. My general answer is "a long time, and we don’t really know how long it can be."
A report in the Annals of Neurology (Boland et al 2014
PetSmart employee worried about rabies after rat bite
As reported on WKTR NewsChannel 3 in Virginia:
“An employee at PetSmart [in Williamburg, Virginia] says she was bitten by a rat on display and is now worried she has rabies. She feels the store isn’t doing enough to help her find out if she has it.
Victoria Verbeeck says she was working at the
Rabies exposure in a shelter, again
As I mentioned a few days ago, eliminating the risk of rabies in animal shelters is pretty much impossible. Another shelter-associated rabies exposure situation highlights the problems.
A cat at the Washington Area Humane Society was recently diagnosed with rabies, resulting in three people receiving post-exposure prophylaxis (i.e. rabies antibodies and a series
Rabid dog fostered from a shelter
Yes, that’s an "oops," but it’s also not completely preventable.
A stray dog and her 6 puppies were sent to a foster home recently by a South Boston, VA animal shelter. It’s a common and logical thing to do, to get the puppies into a lower risk environment until they are old enough to be
OAHN Podcast on Rabies for Ontario Veterinarians
The 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