KSUCVM - KS State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab - Rabies Lab

The following stories were collected from various sources. Submissions are welcome provided citation information is included.

Index

Area's rabies rate jumps (February 5, 2003)
Southwest and south-central Kansas had a third of state's rabid animal cases last year
Rabies infections on the rise (February 1, 2003)
State and Lawrence-area officials are alarmed by the unusually high incidence of rabies this winter, which they say might be caused by warmer than normal temperatures.
Twenty-one rabies cases have been confirmed in animals by the Kansas State University Rabies Diagnostic Laboratory -- about four times the norm for January, state studies show.
Rabies confirmed in bat worker (Nov. 24, 2002)
Britain's Minister for Animal Health Elliot Morley speaks at the launch of an extended Pet Travel Scheme at the residence of the United States ambassador to Britain Wednesday (Nov. 20, 2002)
18 youths treated after exposure to rabid kitten (June 26, 2002)
Rabies confirmed in county; Number of rabies cases nears record pace in Kansas (May 1, 2002)
Rabies is on the rise (April 24, 2002)
Skunks, common in Kansas, are viewed as probable carrier of deadly malady
Kansas rabies cases on rise in 2002 (March 29, 2002)
Review of a new Rabies vaccine for humans available in the United States
RabAvert™ (Chiron), a new human rabies vaccine prepared in purified chick embryo cell culture (PCEC), has been marketed in the USA for pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis. It is available in other countries as Rabipur. Human rabies is rare in the United States, but thousands of people receive post-exposure prophylaxis every year (DL Noah et al, Ann Intern Med, 128:922, June 1, 1998).
Population & Movement Characteristics of Radio-Collared Striped Skunks in North Dakota During an Epizootic of Rabies
ABSTRACT: We observed a total of 102 striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) from March to July of both 1991 and 1992 in Stutsman County, North Dakota (USA) during an experiment with food supplementation.
Rabies Postexposure Prophylaxis with Human Diploid Cell Rabies Vaccine: Lower Neutralizing Antibody Titers with Wyeth Vaccine
On February 16, 1985, Wyeth Laboratories recalled Wyeth human diploid cell rabies vaccine (WYVACTM) from the market. This resulted from two postlicensure studies of antibody responses after postexposure prophylaxis with human diploid cell rabies vaccine (HDCV) conducted by CDC over the last 6 months. The studies--one, a passive surveillance system, and the other, a randomized prospective study--demonstrated that not all individuals receiving postexposure prophylaxis with Wyeth Laboratories' HDCV had antibody titers acceptable by the CDC criterion* and that antibody titers after rabies postexposure prophylaxis with Wyeth HDCV were lower than those with Merieux HDCV (IMOVAXTM).
Keep Pets, People Vaccinated to Avoid Rabies, Experts Advise
WESTMORELAND -- When Ed Hamilton responded to a report of a skunk in a dog's kennel in Westmoreland recently, he knew immediately something was wrong.
As he walked into the pen, the skunk appeared abnormally docile. Hamilton, Pottawatomie County's animal control officer and owner of Hamilton's Nuisance Animal Control, sedated the animal and transported it to Kansas State University's Veterinary Diagnosis Lab, where it was determined that the skunk was infected with rabies.
Rabies Shots-1 or 3 years?
I have always wondered how a rabies vaccine could be good for 1 or 3 years. If it is stimulating the immune system to produce antibodies, how would one last longer than the other? It can't be a time released thing in the body, can it?
JAVMA Online News

Keep pets, people vaccinated to avoid rabies, experts advise

By TAWNYA ERNST
Special to The Capital-Journal
June 15, 1998

WESTMORELAND -- When Ed Hamilton responded to a report of a skunk in a dog's kennel in Westmoreland recently, he knew immediately something was wrong.

As he walked into the pen, the skunk appeared abnormally docile. Hamilton, Pottawatomie County's animal control officer and owner of Hamilton's Nuisance Animal Control, sedated the animal and transported it to Kansas State University's Veterinary Diagnosis Lab, where it was determined that the skunk was infected with rabies.

The skunk was Pottawatomie County's first case of confirmed rabies this year.

Skunks are the primary carriers of the infectious viral disease in Kansas, but any warm-blooded animal, including a human, can be infected. Raccoons, bats and foxes carry the disease, which is transmitted by saliva through bites, scratches, open cuts and mucous membranes.

Hamilton urged the public to avoid contact with wild animals and strays and to vaccinate their pets.

"From kindergarten and on up, kids need to know, don't be playing with the strange kitty," he said. "And you need to be vaccinating your animals if you want to keep them."

Dogs, cats and ferrets should be vaccinated at three months, given a booster one year later and then vaccinated every year or every three years depending on the vaccine, said Dr. Deborah Briggs, director of the KSU Rabies Diagnosis Lab, which diagnoses all rabies cases in Kansas and in several Midwestern states.

Two forms of rabies exist, paralytic, called dumb rabies, and furious rabies. The skunk exhibited dumb rabies, Hamilton said.

Animals, especially wild ones, with dumb rabies, unusually are gentle and friendly. They might appear confused and wander aimlessly.

With dumb rabies, an ascending paralysis that typically starts in the hind limbs can be accompanied by other symptoms such as a drooping jaw and an extended tongue with extreme salivation, Briggs said.

Animals with furious rabies are prone to vicious unprovoked attacks, make odd noises and have extreme salivation.

Symptoms can appear within 10 days or up to five months depending on the point of infection. If an animal or person is infected near or on the head, the symptoms show up quicker than if the infection point is in a lower extremity or hind leg, Briggs said.

By Kansas law, stray or wild animals with rabies are euthanized.

If a vaccinated pet is bitten, it should be revaccinated immediately and observed for 90 days. If the pet then bites someone, it will be considered unvaccinated and may either have to be destroyed or kept in a lengthy quarantine.

If a dog or cat is unvaccinated or not current on its vaccinations, it should be destroyed, Briggs said. If the owner chooses not to have the animal destroyed, the animal must be quarantined for six months and revaccinated one month before it is released.

Persons exposed and never vaccinated must receive five intermuscular injections in the upper arm on the day of exposure and then three days, seven days, 14 days and 28 days after exposure. A rabies immune globulin is injected at the site of exposure on the first day.

Someone who has been vaccinated must receive two boosters, one on the day of exposure and the second one three days later.

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