Rabid Calf fed by children in Maryland

Baltimore Sun story

From the Washington Post

As many as 150 people, including dozens of elementary school students, might have come in contact with a rabid calf at an Accokeek farm, and state and local health officials are urging anyone who visited the farm in the past month to call them for medical advice.

The incident could have deadly consequences. Anyone who demonstrates symptoms of rabies, including headaches and nervous system problems, is likely to die, said Donald Shell, the health officer for Prince George's County.

Because early treatment can be effective, officials were trying over the weekend to identify and contact everyone who visited the Hard Bargain Farm in Accokeek between Dec. 21 and Tuesday, when the infected calf was on display, he said.

Health officials said those who might have had contact with the calf include farmworkers, students from Berry Elementary School in Waldorf and Samuel Chase Elementary School in Temple Hills, and a tour group from the Student Conservation Association in Arlington County.

Rabies is not airborne and is generally not transmitted between people, Shell said. The virus could have been transferred from someone who touched the calf's saliva and then his or her mouth, and Hard Bargain Farm runs an overnight program that allows participants to touch and feed the animals.

Shell said that a farm manager noticed that the calf was sick Tuesday and isolated it. He said that officials think a rabid raccoon infected the calf sometime in the past month.

Anyone who might have been exposed to the calf, which was tan with tiny white spots, is asked to call the Prince George's Health Department at 240-508-5774 or the Charles County Health Department at 240-216-4055 or 240-299-2693.

Another human rabies death in Bali

A seven-year old girl who had probably been bitten by a dog some months ago died of rabies; there was no information about whether she had gotten any rabies shots. According to officials, by the time she was brought to the hospital, "She'd entered the stage when the virus attacks the brain. The common symptoms of this stage include aversion to water and light.

There are three other patients in the hospital with rabies who had been bitten by rabid animals and had gotten some post-exposure rabies shots but had not followed through the whole course. They entered the hospital complaining of numbness in the limbs, one early rabies symptom.

7 year old girl dies of Rabies in Bali

World Rabies Awareness Day

It was yesterday, September 28. The regular media had the story covered so I took the day off.

Cases rising in China!
Rabies on the Rise in China

No big rabies news lately

Though apparently cats get rabies more than dogs.
Cats nearly 4 times more likely to have rabies than dogs

Also the first case in 25 years of a Colorado horse with rabies is worrying officials.
Rabid horse in El Paso County

Bats, Rabies, and Birds

There's a rabies alert in Prince George's County, MD -- 10 bats have tested positive for rabies.
Rabid Bats Tested

For those of you who have seen this story Click here, no, birds who eat bats cannot get rabies.

Woman dies in Bali from rabies

Woman dies of rabies in Bali

Ni Made Dwi Kartika Sari, 21, a resident of Buahan village, Tabanan regency, Bali, late last month of rabies. Curiously (the article says "ironically," but I'm not sure I see the irony here) Dwi's father-in-law, I Nyoman Diadnya, died in August 2008 after displaying similar symptoms.

Diadnya was the first rabies victim from Tabanan, a regency that hasn't been declared as a rabies epidemic area. So far, only Badung and Denpasar have been officially named as epidemic areas, thus, receiving all the necessary medical support related to anti-rabies measures.

Dwi's grieving husband, Agus Eka. 22, said his wife was bitten by a stray dog in early August. Unfortunately, not until 15 days after the incident took place did Dwi receive an anti-rabies vaccine (VAR) injection.

"After she was bitten by the dog, we rushed her to Tabanan Regional Hospital. Yet, the medical personnel there only stitched her wound and didn't give her the VAR," he said.

Two people died last winter of rabies in Bali.
Two Rabies Deaths in Bali after stray dog bites

Some GOOD rabies reporting

Maryland has had a spate of rabid bat news over the past month. Most of the alerts are simple and direct: call the Health Department; seek shots if you suspect you have been bitten.
Rabid Bats in Baltimore Area on the Rise
Here, however, is some good blogging about why taking rabies seriously is important.

A bat scare in Maryland

The blogger, Susan Reimer, tells the story of her daughter's encounter with a bat that may or may not have had rabies:

...the state's chief vet, Katherine Feldman, gave me a detailed course in bats and rabies. Jessie would have to get the shots, even if there was no proof that the bat was rabid or that it had bitten her.

"Rabies is 100 percent fatal if not treated," she said.

The decision was made.

Indeed. Don't turn your encounter with wildlife into an Awful Rabies Story.