Good piece: "The mysteries of rabies"

"On average, 55,000 people worldwide die from rabies every year, but only two or three of those cases happen in the United States, thanks to widespread vaccination of domestic animals and availability of post-bite treatment for humans. Today, when Americans die of rabies, it's usually because they didn't realize they'd been bitten until it was too late—which is to say, when they first noticed symptoms.See, we know how to prevent rabies, but we have absolutely no idea how to cure it. In fact, we don't even really know how it kills people. Despite (and, perhaps, because of) its status as one of the first viruses to be tamed by a vaccine, rabies remains a little-understood disease."

http://boingboing.net/2009/12/28/the-mysteries-of-rab.html

Rabid Beaver Attacks Couple

A strange story: a 35-pound rabid male beaver attached a couple fishing in Pennypack Park in PA on Wednesday, June 1, and then a 10 year old girl on June 2.

News report of a bizarre rabid beaver attack

After Thursday's attack, the animal was found and killed by a park ranger. It tested positive for rabies at the Pennsylvania Health Department lab, and also showed signs of blunt force trauma, consistent with the first attack, when the bitten husband claimed to have hit the beaver with a rock to chase it away.

"At this point, we do have reason to believe it was the same animal," Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesperson Jerry Feaser told LiveScience. "It's unusual that it was beavers, it was unusual that there were two incidences so closely together and it was truly bizarre it was in Philadelphia."

According to a newspaper report, another rabid beaver, less aggressive, was found and drowned in April. Last week's attack caused more havoc.

Game Commission Officer Jerry Czech described what happened when a couple fishing in Pennypack Creek was attacked.

Mr Czech said: 'The beaver kind of went underwater and came up.

'The wife started screaming and the husband looked over and saw the beaver biting on her leg.'

It then bit the husband when he came to her aid.

Don't touch dead animals

There's a YouTube video circulating that shows a small child playing with a dead squirrel. While this may be cute in a morbid sort of way, these parents should be warned. CHILDREN CAN GET RABIES FROM DEAD ANIMALS

Preventing Rabies in Children

Sometimes, people may come across a dead animal. Never pick up or touch dead animals and make sure children know to stay away from dead animals. Animals who have died can still give people rabies, especially if they have only been dead for a short time. If a dead animal is spotted, call animal control to properly take care of the animal's body.

YouTube Video of Child with Dead Squirrel

New Policy

Four shots enough?

It used to be five shots over 28 days, but....

The American Academy of Pediatrics is now recommending that children who have potentially been exposed to rabies receive four shots in two weeks. (Children with weakened immune systems should continue to receive the five-shot regimen, the group says.) This recommendation affirms a set of 2010 guidelines for all ages from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

History: Time Magazine Story from 1926

The prose is a bit overblown compared to today's journalistic prose, but interesting.

Time Magazine. Medicine: Rabies, December 27, 1926

Once hydrophobia definitely develops, it is impossible to cure it, whether in dog, rabbit, cow or man. No human with a definitely developed case of rabies has ever been known to be cured. He dies, actually, like a dog.

China jails 8 for selling fake rabies vaccine after boy dies

This is a big story not just because of the awfulness of selling fake rabies vaccine (which led to the death of a five year old boy) but because China is again taking a hard stand on face pharmaceuticals.

The eight will face up to two and a half years in prison.

They sold over 530 fake injections; the little boy had had six, and would not have died had they been properly formulated. The fake vaccine was apparently mostly water.

The eight defendants also paid the equivalent of $24K to the boy's family.

Awful. But yay to the Chinese government on this one.

Rabid Bat Warning in Los Angeles

21 rabid bats have been found in the L.A. region this year so far.

This is apparently twice the number typically found in the area, which means that about 10 rabid bats are identified annually.

Local officials are warning residents to avoid touching ANY wild animals.

"Make sure that children know to leave bats and other wildlife alone and keep pets away from wild animals," the L.A. County Department of Public Health said in a statement. "If you see a sick bat or other sick animal, contact your local animal control agency."