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.

Porcupines and Rabies

Porcupines are not usually carriers of rabies (happy thought!) but needles in dogs, foxes, raccoons, and other animals is often used as an indicator of rabies (because rabid animals are more likely to attack a porcupine).

All About Porcupines

Rabid Bat Alert in Annapolis

This is a little too close to home....

rabid bat alert!

Since May, bats infected with rabies have been detected in six communities. Health officials issued notices to residents in those communities, advising them how to take precautions against rabies.

Rabies fact sheets also have been issued at county libraries and community health fairs.

Residents who come in contact with bats should call county Animal Control, which handles such reports 24 hours a day. The agency will attempt to capture the bat and get it tested....

From May 13 to June 11, seven rabid bats were found in Annapolis, Crofton, Glen Burnie, Millersville, Pasadena and Severna Park. Health officials said they are concerned because their active season isn't over yet and these levels already are exceeding previous years.

RIP Dr. George Baer, Father of Oral Rabies Vaccination

We pause to remember Dr. George Baer,

Death of Dr. George Baer

Dr. George Martin Baer, 73, of Mexico City and formerly of Atlanta, died June 2 from complications of a suspected heart attack at his home. Funeral services were held June 4 in Mexico City at the Iglesia de Santa Rosa de Lima. A memorial service will be held in Atlanta at a later date.

Born in London, Dr. Baer grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y., where he developed an early love for animals. He graduated from the Westtown School in Westtown, Pa., and in the late 1950s earned two degrees at Cornell University — a bachelor's in agricultural sciences and a degree in veterinary medicine. He got a master's degree in public health from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

His career in public health began at the New York state health department in Albany, where he researched rabies and other diseases. In 1964, he researched bat rabies at the CDC's Southwest Rabies Investigations Station in Las Cruces, N.M.

Four years later, he became head of the CDC's rabies laboratory in Atlanta, where he and others made history. He earned acclaim as "the father of oral rabies vaccination." His book, "The Natural History of Rabies," has been a worldwide reference since 1975.

Elephant Rabies?

Many of my loyal readers have written to ask about awful elephant rabies stories. There is only one and it is documented here:

http://www.zoosprint.org/ZooPrintJournal/2006/February/2172.pdf

Key information:

An 84-year-old female domesticated elephant presented with a 4-day history of lethargy. Appetite and water intake was normal but the following day she was unsteady, aggressive and restless. There were secretions from both temporal glands. On the sixth day she was completely anorectic, had developed paralysis of the trunk and was unable to stand, falling each time she tried to stand up, and she was noticed to be blind. She died on the ninth day after the first symptoms were observed. PM examination showed the brain to be more vascular than normal and a brain smear was positive for rabies antigen.

According to the Zoosprint article above, "elephants usually get bitten either on the trunk or hind limbs. During the last year (2007) one elephant was bitten on its trunk by a stray dog and was given post exposure vaccination and did not develop rabies. Because these elephants are always tethered they are more prone to wounds on their hind limbs. Hence the chances of transmission of rabies through lick from a rabid animal are very high."

How sad!

Here is a youtube clip that is interesting:

You Tube Rabies Alert