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For Immediate Release: 3/24/09

First Confirmed Case of Rabies in 2009 for Phelps County

Phelps / Maries County Health Department received a report that a skunk from Phelps County tested positive for rabies on March 11.  There was no human exposure and rabies prophylaxis was not needed.  Rabies is caused by a virus that animals and people can get through certain exposures to the saliva or nervous tissue of a rabid animal and in nearly always fatal without proper post-exposure treatment.

Rabies prevention starts with the animal owner. According to Jodi Waltman, director of the Phelps / Maries County Health Department, all dogs, cats and ferrets should be vaccinated for rabies.  Consult with your veterinarian regarding the need to vaccinate horses and valuable livestock.

Pet owners can reduce the possibility of pets being exposed to rabies by not letting them roam free. Spaying or neutering your pet may reduce the tendency to roam or fight and can reduce the number of unwanted animals that end up as strays.

Avoid contact with wild animals. Observe animals such as raccoons, bats,  skunks, and foxes from a distance. Never feed or handle wild animals. Never bring a wild animal into your home and never try to nurse sick animals back to health. Call animal control, animal rescue or your conservation department for assistance. Prevent bats from entering buildings used by people. If a bat has been found inside a
home, especially if it was in a room where someone was sleeping, or in a room with someone who would be unable to describe the extent of their exposure, do not discard the bat or set it free. Contact the local health department for information on what to do with the bat.

Children suffer a disproportionate number of bites from animals, often resulting in serious injury to the face, head, and neck. The following tips can help children avoid being bitten, and the resulting physical/mental trauma and potential exposure to rabies and other diseases that accompany bites:

• Teach children never to approach or handle unfamiliar animals, wild or domestic, even if they appear friendly.
• Never run from a dog or scream at it.
• Report stray dogs or cats and wild animals that are behaving in an unusual manner to an adult.
• Do not try to nurse sick animals to health.  It is common to want to rescue and nurse a hurt animal, but that animal may have rabies or bite viciously out of fear and pain.  Ask an adult for help with the animal.
• Do not disturb a dog that is sleeping, eating, or caring for puppies.
• If bitten, report the bite to an adult immediately.

Anyone who has been bitten by an animal, particularly a stray dog or cat or a wild animal, should wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water for 10 to 15 minutes. If possible, and without further injury, try to capture or confine the biting animal so that it can be quarantined or tested for rabies (depending upon the species of biting animal).

If the animal is destroyed, avoid damaging the head since the brain is the only specimen that can be tested for the presence of the rabies virus.  Persons should contact their physician to see if medical care (antibiotics, tetanus booster, etc.) is needed and to have a rabies risk assessment made.  If the risk of rabies is high, the physician may determine that the patient needs the anti-rabies series of shots.

Persons bitten by animals should also contact their local health department to seek assistance in obtaining proper disposition of the biting animal. The local health department will determine if action is needed, such as quarantine of the animal or euthanasia and testing for the presence of rabies virus. 

Additional information pertaining to rabies can be found on the DHSS Web site at www.dhss.mo.gov or at the Rabies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site at www.cdc.gov/rabies.

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