Rabid fox in Lawrence, MA

This is a classic rabid fox story -- growling fox attacking humans in the middle of the day. The news story is pretty good on the details EXCEPT the reporter says in the first paragraph:

Unchecked, the disease can be fatal.

UNCHECKED THE DISEASE IS ALWAYS FATAL!!! Please feel free to write the reporter and tell him/her.
Fox shot after biting man
According to the police report,

"The fox came out from under the deck and started circling me, making low growling noises and showing its teeth,"

Stay away from foxes in general, that's what I say.

Possibly Rabid Dog Killed by Lightning in Tennessee

This is not really awful and perhaps not even about rabies.


Lighting kills dog bitten by raccoon

It happened Aug. 18 when a homeowner awoke to find her female near a dead raccoon. Gilmer County Environmental Health officials later found puncture marks on the raccoon, which they believe were made by the dog in a confrontation with the animal, said Jennifer Moorer, a health district spokeswoman.

The raccoon tested positive for rabies on Aug. 20, and since the pit bull was not current on its rabies vaccination, the owner was ordered to have the dog euthanized or placed in a state-mandated quarantine for six months.

In the meantime, the animal was killed by lightning, so no further action is required, Mr. Moorer reported.

Discuss among yourselves.

Plants can NOT get rabies.

A plant capable of eating rodents has been discovered in the Philippines. It is a pitcher plant, newly named Nepenthes attenboroughii, and very rare.

Rat Eating Plant Discovered

A reader asked me to research what would happen if the plant ate a rabid rat. The answer: the world would have one fewer rabid rat. But I wouldn't eat the plant either way.

Pack of Wild Dogs kills retired philosophy professor and librarian

...But rabies seems not to have been involved.

Wild Dogs Attack, Kill Elderly Georgia Couple
Apparently the wife went out walking, was attacked and killed first; then the husband, who went looking for her, suffered the same fate.

The 65-year-old animal lover was taking an evening stroll last week when she was attacked by the feral dogs, authorities believe. Her husband, Lothar Schweder, a retired professor, fell victim to the pack when he went out looking for her.
A shredded piece of shirt, some strands of hair and bloodstained dirt were all that remained Tuesday where the couple was killed. Paramedics who came to the grisly scene Saturday morning found the suspected attackers standing guard. While it's unclear exactly what happened because there were no witnesses, officials have rounded up 16 dogs they believe were involved.

The dogs showed no sign of rabies. They were just plain aggressive.

There have been at least 20 deadly dog attacks in the U.S. this year, 22 in 2008 and 33 in 2007, said the Humane Society's Goldfarb, compared with about 75 million owned dogs. The National Weather Service says there were 27 lightning deaths so far this year, 28 in 2008 and 45 in 2007.
Dogs that attack also typically are not spayed or neutered, which can contribute to aggression, Goldfarb said. The dogs in the attack are not believed to have been sterilized.

Rabid Horses

Last week saw TWO rabid horse stories -- rare and sad, though neither was particularly awful.

A Maryland horse was put down after being diagnosed with rabies (probably from a raccoon bite)
Harford County Horse Euthanized
The farm is under quarantine.

The horse had had no contact with the public. About 25 feral cats were trapped at the farm and euthanized. Other animals, including several family pets, had current vaccinations and were given boosters

And a Texas horse died of rabies after returning from a rodeo.
Scurry County Horse Dies of Rabies
A health alert was put out for anyone who had come in contact with the horse at the rodeo.

Save the Vultures!

[I'm giving up on the star system until I can find smaller stars]

Vultures Slow the spread of Rabies
The world vulture population is shrinking because of modern ranching and farming techniques.

The advent of 20th century farming replaced wild herd animals, whose carcasses are the staple diet of vultures around the world, with heavily medicated livestock. Diclofenac, a frequently administered anti-inflammatory veterinary painkiller comparable to ibuprofen, has proven to be particularly deadly to the vultures that ingest it secondhand. Though the birds by design have "very strong stomach fluids" that digest even the nastiest of pathogens, this particular drug has proven too much, says Tom Aversa of Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.

But the decline in vultures has meant a rise in rabies!

Countries where vultures are most threatened, such as Nepal, India and Pakistan, rely heavily on vultures for a kind of natural maid service: as they clear out dead animals, the risk of disease is also reduced. Dangerous wild-dog packs that feed on dead livestock have also flourished without competition from the birds, says Todd Katzner of Pittsburgh's National Aviary, leading to a new surge of rabies, particularly in Mumbai. "People don't realize what a key role vultures play in the ecosystem," says Aversa. "[They] prevent disease and recycle."

So the answer: Vulture Awareness!

On Sept. 5 — the first annual International Vulture Awareness Day — zoos and bird societies around the globe will sponsor educational tours and flight demonstrations to get the word out about the plight of the vultures. Unlike blue whales, polar bears and other beloved species in danger of extinction, it may be harder to rally folks to save these prickly feathered birds with bumpy, bald heads, portly physiques and a tendency to be knee-deep in rotting flesh.

Better the rotting rabid flesh be in the belly of a vulture, I say.

Should you drink milk from a cow bitten by a rabid dog?

Apparently not. I missed this story from a few weeks ago.

Rabies Scare in Bhutan

24 July, 2009 - Sixty-five residents of Nganglam in Pemagatshel are being vaccinated against rabies after they drank the unboiled milk of a cow that was bitten by a rabid dog.

Those that handled the rabid cow and ate beef are also receiving the five doses of the human diploid cell vaccine (HDC).

Of the 65 residents, 37 are from Dezema village, which is about a two-hour walk from Nganglam and 28 are from the Nganglam dungkhag area.

Health officials confirmed the outbreak on July 13, when five dogs, a cat and a cow in Dezema village died after being bitten by a suspected rabid dog on July 8. On July 18, another cow had died of suspected rabies in Nganglam.

Rabies is spread through saliva that is spread through a bite or scratch, but better safe than sorry in this case.

A Rabid Otter Story

This one is more strange than awful: an Austrian woman swimming in a Wisconsin lake last week says she was bitten repeatedly by otters; now she's getting precautionary rabies shots.

From the AP: Rabid Otters Attack Woman

She spotted an otter. "I thought it was really cool," she said. "I'd never seen an otter before. Then, all of a sudden, there were three of them."
She felt uncomfortable and swam to shore. She said she had her hands on the shore and legs in the water, "and there they were — one on the right leg and one on the left leg."
"I shook my legs, and they went away," France said. They bit her eight or nine times, but it "never really hurt much."

Rabid otters are not rare, though they are uncommon. Five years ago there was a rabid otter attack in New York
Rabid Otter bites boy

'He got out yelling, 'Help,' and crying, 'Get it off me,' and then he fell back into the water so I ran up to him and saw this thing hanging off of him,'' Mrs. Pedersen said yesterday.

Two lifeguards used kickboards to knock the otter off the boy. The animal then dashed around in the sand and unsuccessfully lunged at others. It ran back into the water and back on the beach before a lifeguard was able to throw a milk crate over it. Finally, a county sheriff's deputy came to the scene and shot the otter, which tested positive for rabies on Thursday.

Rabid Wolf vs. Rabid Kitten

No, they were not in the same ring. These are two separate incidents. But if you asked me which is the more scary, I would say clearly the rabid kitten story, because the danger of a child being unknowingly infected is much worse.

A rabid kitten was found in the parking lot of a mall in Annapolis MD on Saturday, August 8, 2009.
Rabid kitten found near mall
An public service announcement has been running on radio and TV since to alert people who had been in the area -- to urge anyone who had been in the parking lot or nearby who perhaps had petted the animal to contact the Maryland Department of Health immediately.

Meanwhile, in Alaska, a pack of wolves attacked and killed three sled dogs in a Marshall, remote village in Western Alaska. Rabid wolf attack kills 6 dogs One wolf killed by a villager later tested positive for rabies.

Only 18 wolves have tested positive for rabies in Alaska since 1977. The last confirmed case was in Dillingham in 1998.

Marshall resident Tony Boliver lost a female and three puppies in the wolf attack. He ended up shooting and burning eight dogs that were bitten by the wolves. His remaining seven dogs that weren't injured are in a fenced area.

The animals are burned so that they will not be eaten by another animal, thus spreading the virus.

Rabid Transplant Story Legal Update

Two of the families in the infamous case of four individuals who died as a result of organ transplants from a rabid victim filed suit against the hospital, Baylor University Medical Center, back in 2006.

Informed Consent at Issue in Rabies-Infected Kidneys

The plaintiffs in one of the cases allege in their petition that:

[the donor's] medical history revealed that he was admitted to the hospital, through the emergency room, in "an agitated and confused state and that he had multiple episodes of seizing and vomiting." They further allege that medical records indicate the team that procured [the donor's] kidney felt that the hospital and surgeon receiving the organ for transplant "should be aware of some significant signs of infection in the donor, including evidence of bacteria growing in the donor's sputum and blood." The Biggs plaintiffs also allege in their petition that [the donor's] temperature was 106 degrees prior to his death, "indicating an obvious and serious infection" that was unknown to the plaintiffs, [the donor's] treating physician and the defendants.

The family of the rabid man who died say that he ought not to have been rejected as a donor just because he was a drug user and in jail. Family responds

This is probably true. But he did have rabies.
I have not been able to discover the outcome of these two lawsuits.

Rabies Plush Toy

I kid you not.
Giant Plush Microbes from GeekToys

A Rabid Skunk Story

Rabid Skunk stories are rare (compared to rabid fox, raccoon, bat, and dog stories) because skunks, like porcupines, tend not to get bitten by other rabid animals. However, a man in Norfolk CT was attacked by a rabid skunk this past Sunday.
Local Man Attacked by Rabid Skunk
Apparently the home was a vector for rabies. According to the article, Hilary Cohen, gun-totin' Animal Control Officer,

has since trapped and removed 13 to 16 semi-feral cats, including a dead one, from inside and around the house. She also shot a second skunk that has tested positive for rabies.

The house has been condemned.