Paw's Place
What is rabies?
Why must my pet get a rabies shot?
What can I do to prevent rabies at home?
Why was that wild animal acting so strangely? He wasn't afraid of me!
What do I do if I get bitten?
About how much time do I have to get tested?
What is Rabies?
Rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite (or scratch) of a rabid animal. The vast majority of rabies cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year occur in wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes. Domestic animals account for less than 10% of the reported rabies cases, with cats, cattle, and dogs most often reported rabid.
How quickly does the Rabies virus work?
Rabies virus infects the central nervous system, causing encephalopathy and ultimately death. Early symptoms of rabies in humans are nonspecific, consisting of fever, headache, and general malaise. As the disease progresses, neurological symptoms appear and may include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation, hypersalivation, difficulty swallowing, and hydrophobia (fear of water). (Rabies treatment may be started after the bite or scratch, as determined by the doctor. It can take days before the virus reached the brain.) Death usually occurs within days of (after) the onset of symptoms.
How many people get rabies?
Over the last 100 years, rabies in the United States has changed dramatically. More than 90% of all animal cases reported annually to CDC now occur in wildlife; before 1960 the majority were in domestic animals. The principal rabies hosts today are wild carnivores and bats. The number of rabies-related human deaths in the United States has declined from more than 100 annually at the turn of the century to one or two per year in the1990's. Modern day prophylaxis has proven nearly 100% successful. In the United States, human fatalities associated with rabies occur in people who fail to seek medical assistance, usually because they were unaware of their exposure.
What animals can cause Rabies?
Rabies virus causes an acute encephalitis in all warm-blooded hosts, including humans, and the outcome is almost always fatal. Although all species of mammals are susceptible to rabies virus infection, only a few species are important as reservoirs for the disease. In the United States, several distinct rabies virus variants have been identified in terrestrial mammals, including raccoons, skunks, foxes, and coyotes. In addition to these terrestrial reservoirs, several species of insectivorous bats are also reservoirs for rabies. Raccoons continued to be the most frequently reported rabid wildlife species (37.2% of all animal cases during 2001), followed by skunks (30.7%), bats (17.2%), foxes (5.9%), and other wild animals, including rodents and lagomorphs (0.7%)
How is rabies transmitted?
Transmission of rabies virus usually begins when infected saliva of a host is passed to an uninfected animal (through a bite or scratch). Various routes of transmission have been documented and include contamination of mucous membranes (i.e., eyes, nose, mouth), aerosol transmission, and corneal transplantations. The most common mode of rabies virus transmission is through the bite and virus-containing saliva of an infected host.
What are the signs and symptoms of rabies?
The first symptoms of rabies may be nonspecific flu-like signs malaise, fever, or headache, which may last for days. There may be discomfort or paresthesia at the site of exposure (bite), progressing within days to symptoms of cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, confusion, agitation, progressing to delirium, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, and insomnia. The acute period of disease typically ends after 2 to 10 days.
Once clinical signs of rabies appear, the disease is nearly always fatal, and treatment is typically supportive.
Disease prevention is entirely prophylactic and includes both passive antibody (immune globulin) and vaccine. Non-lethal exceptions are extremely rare. To date only six documented cases of human survival from clinical rabies have been reported and each included a history of either pre- or postexposure prophylaxis (anti-rabies drugs). (The symptoms above may not all be rabies related. Consult with your doctor!)
How quickly can a rabies test be done?
Rapid and accurate laboratory diagnosis of rabies in humans and other animals are essential for timely administration of postexposure prophylaxis (anti-rabies drugs). Within a few hours, a diagnostic laboratory can determine whether or not an animal is rabid and inform the responsible medical personnel. (Note that the animal that bites or scratches must be killed so that the test can be completed. Not all animals need to be tested if they bite — see "Animal Quarantine" below.) The laboratory results may save a patient from unnecessary physical and psychological trauma, and financial burdens, if the animal is not rabid.
Is rabies treatable?
There is no treatment for rabies after symptoms of the disease appear. However, two decades ago scientists developed an extremely effective new rabies vaccine regimen that provides immunity to rabies when administered after an exposure (postexposure prophylaxis) or for protection before an exposure occurs (preexposure prophylaxis). Although rabies among humans is rare in the United States, every year an estimated 18,000 people receive rabies preexposure prophylaxis and an additional 40,000 receive postexposure prophylaxis.
What should I do if I get bitten?
If you are exposed to a potentially rabid animal, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water (for at least 5 to 10 minutes), (call animal control or 911,) and seek medical attention immediately. A health care provider (your doctor) will care for the wound and will assess the risk for rabies exposure. The following information will help your health care provider assess your risk:
Steps taken by the health care practitioner will depend on the circumstances of the bite (or scratch). Your health care practitioner should consult state or local health departments, veterinarians, or animal control officers to make an informed assessment of the incident and to request assistance. The important factor is that you seek care promptly after you are bitten by any animal. (Your doctor will determine when and if rabies treatment should be started.) (North Carolina Law requires that all animal bites to humans be reported. Even if your OWN pet bites you, whether or not you went to the doctor, whether or not it was an accident.)
What can I do to help prevent the spread of rabies?
Your Pets: Be a responsible pet owner:
Other Animals: Avoid direct contact with unfamiliar animals:
When traveling:
Rabies is common in developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America where dogs are the major reservoir of rabies. Tens of thousands of people die of rabies each year in these countries. Before traveling abroad, consult with a health care provider, travel clinic, or your health department about the risk of exposure to rabies, preexposure prophylaxis, and how you should handle an exposure, should it arise.
Source: Center for Disease Control (CDC)
Also see the CDC's Kid's Rabies Page
Why was that wild animal acting so strangely? He wasn't afraid of me!
Animals infected with rabies will loose their natural tendencies to be afraid of humans! If you see a wild animal (raccoon, skunk, bat, fox) that doesn't appear to be afraid of humans, call animal control, the police or 911 immediately! Stay far away from the animal until animal control arrives. Note that there are a number of other reasons why the animal has lost its fear of humans, including being hit by a car, sick from other diseases, etc.
Do not go anywhere near the animal under any circumstances!
Do not risk getting bit trying to save your pet! It's been vaccinated against rabies, you haven't!
Tell the authorities immediately if the animal bites, scratches or sprays you!
Animal Quarantine
After a possible rabies infection through a bite or scratch, your local animal control officer along with the county health department and your doctor will decide the best course of action to determine if rabies is involved. In order to do a rabies test, the animal must be killed, however quarantining the animal for 10 days is another option. If the biting animal does not become sick with rabies, or die, within 10 days, then rabies may not have been involved.
Not all animals (dogs, cats, ferrets) need to be tested (killed) if they bite, but they do need to be quarantined. Even if a pet owner does or does not have proof that their animal has had it's preventative rabies shot, the animal control officer is required (by NC State Law) to quarantine the animal (also see "Management of Animal Bites" below). If a dog or cat bites and it was able to transmit the rabies virus, it will be very sick or dead within the 10 day quarantine period. Your doctor may begin rabies treatment soon after the bite and might then stop treatment if the dog or cat does not become sick during the 10 day quarantine.
There is a small window of time in which the rabies virus can be actually transmitted, however no one is really certain of how long the rabies virus can live within an animal (disease reservoirs) without the animal being able to transmit the virus to other animals. Wild animals may be reservoirs of the disease but not display the symptoms of the disease.
Why must my pet get a rabies shot?
It's the law! This requirement is important not only to keep your pets from getting rabies, but also to provide a barrier of protection to you, your children and your other pets, your neighbors and their pets, if your animal is bitten by a rabid wild animal. Keep vaccinations up-to-date for all dogs, cats and ferrets. People working in animal control positions and at animal rescue shelters, routinely get rabies vaccinations (preexposure prophylaxis) to prevent the disease in case they are bitten or scratched by an infected animal.
Puppies should get their 1 year rabies vaccination when they are about 12 to 16 weeks old. A rabies vaccine booster is given every 3 years. You should attach the rabies tag to your pet's collar and keep the state rabies license in a safe place in case your animal control officer or a public official asks to see it. North Carolina law requires that all dogs and cats over four months of age are vaccinated against rabies.
Still have questions?
Talk to your veterinarian, your animal control officer, or the health department!
Paw's Place
While all of the dogs and cats at Paw's Place have been vaccinated for rabies, some animals adopted from Paw's Place may have been exposed to various diseases from contact with other animals. Wildlife rabies is currently prevalent in this area of North Carolina. A dog, cat or other animal that is bitten (exposed) by a rabid animal, may not develop symptoms for up to six months. During this time (the incubation period), the exposed animal may not be protected against rabies. Although all the animals have been carefully checked by a veterinarian for signs of infection, it is important that you know the symptoms of rabies in your pet: change in behavior, vicious or nervous activity, difficulty swallowing, excessive drooling, difficulty walking, or paralysis. If your adopted pet develops any of these symptoms, immediately separate the animal from people and other animals until it can be examined by a veterinarian.
Paw's Place strives to screen animals and to inform prospective owners of any perceivable problems, but some problems may not be evident at time of adoption. In the event that an adopted animal has a health problem for which the new owners do not want to assume responsibility, the animal should be returned to Paw's Place within thirty (30) days with a statement from an attending veterinarian as to the condition diagnosed.
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