New book on rabies!

Obviously I'm excited!    Rabid

Possibly rabid otter attacks triathlete

Rabid otters are not rare but this was apparently an unusually savage attack.  In Minnesota, a woman training for an ironman triathlon was attacked by an otter and taken to the hospital. According to the NYDaily News:

One of the normally peaceful mammals savaged her back, legs and feet 25 times, forcing the 33-year-old to get rabies shots, the Star Tribune reported.
"It just kept coming after me," she said. "You never knew where it was going to bite next."
Prudhomme was preparing for an upcoming triathlon in the lake near Duluth with a friend last Wednesday. She wore a wetsuit over her swimsuit, but the otter was able to tear through it, leaving bites in her flesh as deep as two inches.

Two years ago Florida was the site of multiple rabid otter attacks.

Bison rabies in Colorado

When an adult bison died suddenly officials wondered whether the death was linked to the spate of nearby rabies cases nearby.  Four individuals who had been in contact with the bison are receiving the post-exposure rabies vaccine, according to the Lamar Ledger.

Skunk rabies now is present in most of Colorado east of the Continental Divide, with the exceptions of the Denver metro area and Jefferson and Boulder counties.
Dr. Elisabeth Lawaczeck, state public health veterinarian at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said, "Don't procrastinate - vaccinate! Pet owners should ensure their animals are currently vaccinated through a licensed veterinarian."
Prowers County Director of Public Health Jackie Brown said, "We are very concerned about rabies and very concerned people aren't taking it seriously.

See also:  CSU Bison dies of rabies

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.