Rabies: What To Do
Rabies is one of the oldest diseases known to man. Aristotle in 300 B.C. described this disease as being caused by the bite or tooth scratch of an infected animal. He further stated that once the symptoms of the disease appeared in man or animal, death occurred in a few days. This is as true today as it was in ancient times.
The virus causing rabies follows the nervous system from the area of the bite to the brain. The time from exposure to the first clinical symptoms varies from 10 days to as long as six months. Most cases occur within three to six weeks.
Rabies identification is possible only if the suspected animal, and particularly its head, has been handled in the proper way. If some person or domestic animal has been bitten, the principal concern is whether or not the biting animal had rabies. The bitten animal may be a potential future case of rabies and a source of human exposure.
The Missouri Division of Health will give highest priority to instances of face bites on humans and any bites involving skunks or bats. Bites involving dogs, cats, etc. (and not humans) will be handled through regular procedures with results usually available the following day. Requests for tests on animals that were "acting strangely" but where no bites were involved will receive low priority.
The Division of Health makes no charge for the tests, but the local veterinarian may charge a fee for his services.
Should the situation arise where a dog or cat is suspected of having rabies, the following steps will be helpful.
1. Don't kill the suspected animal unless absolutely necessary. If it must be killed, remember diagnosis is made from brain tissue; so do not shoot it in the head, hit it on the head or damage the head in any way.
2. If at all possible, keep the suspected dog or cat alive, confined and under veterinary observation for 10 days. If it has the disease, it will show definite symptoms and probably die within this period. (If you cannot put the animal in a veterinary hospital during confinement, be sure to pen it up where children and other animals cannot contact it.)
3. If the dog or cat dies, the local veterinarian will have the facilities and the appropriate container for shipping the head to the nearest Division of Health Laboratory. If a delay is necessary, do not freeze the head of the suspected animal.
The head should be placed in a strong plastic bag or can and sealed tightly. This should be placed in a water-tight container with wet ice or freeze cans and delivered to the nearest laboratory. Microscopic examination of heads received in the morning from Monday through Friday are completed that day and the results on all positive animals telephoned to the person requesting the information.
Only the head of a suspected animal may be accepted by the Division of Health Laboratory with the exception of bats and small mammals. There are three Division of Health Laboratories, plus the University Diagnostic Laboratory. The addresses are:
Mo. Division of Health
Bureau of Laboratory Services
State Office Building
221 West High
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Mo. Division of Health
District Health Unit No. 4
(Laboratory)
1812 South Broadway
Poplar Bluff, MO 63901
Mo. Division of Health
District Health Unit No. 5
(Laboratory)
1154 East Latoka
Springfield, MO 65800
4. Wounds of bitten persons should be washed with soap and water for 20 minutes. A physician or your local health department should be consulted at once.
5. The Division of Health has recently provided all physicians in this state with the most up-to-date recommendations on the treatment of humans who may or are known to have been exposed to rabies. The exact nature of each case determines whether or not treatment is indicated. Consult your physician if you suspect you have been exposed and be governed by his decision regarding the need for treatment.
ANIMAL SUSCEPTIBILITY: While all warm-blooded animals may develop rabies when exposed to rabid animals, some are more susceptible than others. The most susceptible animal is the fox. The skunk is the second most susceptible; cattle are third; dog is fourth and cat is fifth. Fortunately, human beings are not highly susceptible to rabies. Various authorities on rabies state that in this country if 100 persons were seriously bitten about the face, head or neck by a known rabid animal, 25 percent would develop rabies if no first-aid or anti-rabies treatment was administered.
The raccoon, opossum, groundhog and muskrat in Missouri are seldom rabid. The Missouri Division of Health Central Laboratory has never isolated rabies from a bird, fox squirrel, gray or ground squirrel, chipmunk or field mouse, wild rat or rabbit, nor from such pets as white rats, mice, hamsters or guinea pigs.
CLINICAL RABIES IN DOGS: The virus causing rabies affects the brain, and the first indications the owner has that his dog is developing rabies is usually a change in personality or behavior. Unfortunately, this change is indistinguishable from a digestive disorder, injury, foreign body in the mouth, or the first symptoms of an infectious disease.
There are two general types of rabies found in dogs. Forty percent of the dogs have furious rabies, and 60 percent have dumb or paralytic rabies. A dog with dumb rabies usually has a dropped jaw with tongue hanging out and saliva dropping from his lips. This is caused by paralysis of the throat muscles. This dog cannot bite and is not dangerous unless you put your hand in his mouth thinking a bone or stick is caught in his throat. Occasionally in dumb rabies paralysis may first occur in the hind quarters and rapidly move forward. This animal can bite but is usually not vicious. Death will usually occur in three to five days.
Furious rabies is an entirely different story. The symptoms usually occur in the following order:
1. Change in personality. May develop a hoarse bark due to partial paralysis of the vocal cords.
2. Tries to hide in dark corners, closets or under beds.
3. Becomes highly excitable, is restless and tries to get away. Hog fencing or hardware cloth wire will not keep him in a pen.
4. Starts to roam and may roam for miles, snapping and biting at anything that gets in his way and moves. Usually in four to eight days paralysis develops and the animal dies.
RABIES IN CATS: Cats invariably have the furious type of rabies. They will hide in dark places or under bushes and attack without warning, inflicting wounds with both teeth and claws. Cat rabies is more common in areas where skunk rabies is occurring.
SKUNK AND FOX RABIES: While dumb rabies is common in dogs, it is rarely seen in wildlife. However, it does occur in foxes. A skunk or fox with rabies loses all fear of man. They travel about in the daytime and usually attack anything that moves. Skunks with rabies have two interesting peculiarities:
1. Ninety percent will not spray even when cornered by man or dog.
2. Regardless of sex, they will try to mother a litter of puppies or kittens. Invariably they will nip one or more of the litter, thus transmitting the disease to these highly susceptible animals.
RABIES IN CATTLE AND HORSES: Rabies in the cow or horse is usually the furious type. However, dumb rabies does sometimes occur in cows. They will run into solid objects such as walls and fences, paw the ground and chase other animals. A typical clinical symptom in cattle is the unusual sound made when they bellow and they will frequently continue bellowing until death. Horses frequently bite themselves.
RABIES IN BATS: Bats, unlike other animals, can have rabies virus in their salivary glands and be capable of transmitting rabies for several weeks and even months before showing clinical signs of rabies. Therefore, any bite by a bat must be considered rabid until proven otherwise by the laboratory.
FIRST-AID: The Missouri Division of Health recommends the vigorous and prolonged application of soap and water to all bite wounds. Your physician should be consulted immediately. Bites on the exposed parts of the body such as head, face, neck and hands are more likely to cause infection than bites through clothing.
PROPHYLAXIS FOR HUMANS: If your occupation brings you in close contact with possible rabid animals, you can make arrangements for a program of immunization by contacting your doctor or the Missouri Division of Health. This consists of two injections of anti-rabies vaccine given a month apart and followed by a third injection six months later. One month following the third injection a blood sample is submitted to the laboratory and the degree of protection built up by the individual is determined.
