RABIES, CATS, HUMAN EXPOSURE - USA (VIRGINIA)

RABIES, CATS, HUMAN EXPOSURE - USA (VIRGINIA)
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A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases


Date: Sat 9 May 2009
Source: The Free Lance-Star [edited]


Three people face treatment for rabies after being bitten by 2 cats
in Spotsylvania County that tested positive for the deadly disease
last month [April 2009].

One incident occurred off Hood Drive in the Four-Mile Fork area on 30
Apr 2009. The other incident happened on Duerson Road on 23 Apr 2009.
The county Health Department is handling both cases. County animal
control officers already have gone door to door to hand out
information on the disease.

Lisa Hill, environmental health supervisor, said that on 30 Apr 2009,
2 men were exposed to rabies when they attended to a cat they thought
was dead. She said one of the men was 85 years old, but she did not
know the age of the other person. On 23 Apr 2009, she said a
26-year-old woman was trying to help a cat hit by a car when she was
bitten on Duerson Road in the western part of the county.

Rabies is caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system. Rabies
is fatal to mammals and humans who are not treated "They are all
currently being treated," Hill said of the 3 people. "Both of these
cats come from an area where there have been cat colonies.
Spotsylvania Animal Control is trying to handle it through
education." Hill warned people not to touch or feed stray cats in
either of these areas. She said she is unaware of any other reported
cases. Rabies can be prevented in cats, dogs, ferrets and some
livestock with rabies vaccinations, she said.

[Byline: Dan Telvock]

Communicated by:
ProMED-mail

[Spotsylvania county can be located to the southwest of
Fredericksburg in the map of the state of Virginia at:
.
Hopefully, Spotsylvania Animal Control will be able to locate the
feral cat colony believed to be associated with these rabies cases
and eliminate the risk of further exposure of the human and animal
population of the county to rabies virus infection. - Mod.CP]

RABIES, BOVINE, HUMAN EXPOSURE - USA (03): (NORTH CAROLINA)

RABIES, BOVINE, HUMAN EXPOSURE - USA (03): (NORTH CAROLINA)
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A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases


Date: 17 Apr 2009
Source: Salisbury Post [edited]


Calf dies after exposure to rabies
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A calf on a farm in Gold Hill has died as a result of exposure to
rabies. The diagnosis was made after the calf's owner sent the body
of the animal to a lab in Raleigh for a necropsy. It died last week
[week of 6-10 Apr 2009].

The owner said he has been involved in the raising of cattle for
about 50 years, and this is the 1st time one of his animals has
contracted rabies. He said someone saw a skunk in one of his pastures
last month, and said he thinks the female calf may have contracted
rabies from that animal. "They say they're real bad about carrying
diseases," he said of skunks.

He raises about 15 head of cattle on his farm on Spring Lake Lane. He
admitted that anything he knows about rabies and cattle, he's learned
only since his calf died. "I'm not very familiar with it, and I wish
I wasn't this familiar," he said. "I'd never crossed this bridge
before." He said the diseased calf was only about 2 or 3 months old.
He said most of his cattle are registered and said the calf would
have been registered had it lived.

The calf's owner said that when one of his heads of cattle undergoes
a necropsy, the result typically reveals the animal died of pneumonia
or some similar ailment. It is almost impossible, he said, to know
what killed a head of cattle without a necropsy.

Fran Pepper of Rowan County Animal Control agreed. She said even when
an animal has rabies, there are no sure signs of the disease. "Rabies
doesn't exhibit the same symptoms," Pepper said. "Some will walk the
fence line and bellow and some won't. There's really no tell-tale
signs of the disease." She said that while this is the 1st case of
rabies being diagnosed in cattle in Rowan County this year, it's not
that unusual. Pepper said there have been several instances of rabies
being diagnosed in cattle elsewhere in the state this year.

This was the 5th case of rabies reported in Rowan County this year.
The calf's owner and his wife are undergoing post-exposure rabies
shots due to their handling of the calf just prior to its death.

[Byline: Steve Huffman]

Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Susan Baekeland