For Immediate Release:
September 6, 2007

Contact:
Nanci Gonder
Office of Public Information
573-751-6062

World Rabies Day to Focus Attention on Threat of Infection, Importance of Prevention

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) will recognize World Rabies Day, September 8, as part of an effort by the international public health community to emphasize the threat of rabies worldwide and focus attention on the need for ongoing protection and prevention.

“Rabies is a constant threat here in Missouri, across the nation and around the world,” said Dr. Howard Pue, state public health veterinarian. “Because it will always be present in a small portion of the wildlife around us, it is vitally important that everyone recognize the threat rabies poses to all of us and our animals, and the crucial role prevention plays in protecting against infection with this virus.”

In Missouri, rabies is most often seen in bats and skunks, but also occasionally in farm animals and pets. To date this year, DHSS has received reports of 29 bats, three skunks and one horse that have tested positive for rabies. Last year, a total of 66 animals tested positive for rabies and three Missouri counties were placed on rabies alert, either because domestic animals tested positive or the number of wild animals testing positive exceeded expected levels.  

Rabies is a disease of mammals and is transmitted primarily through bites. Nationwide, over 90 percent of reported rabies cases are wild animals commonly seen in neighborhoods and backyards, such as bats, skunks, and foxes. Vaccinated pets are the barrier between those animals and loved ones, and public health experts want pet owners to know that by protecting their pets they also are protecting their families.

“The most important thing people can do to protect themselves, their family, and their pets from the threat of rabies is to have their pets vaccinated,” said Pue. “Because pets are more likely than people to be exposed to a rabid animal, vaccinated pets serve as an effective, protective barrier between people and rabies. So it is vitally important for pet owners to have their pets vaccinated against rabies. Pet owners need to understand how close the threat of rabies is to their families; it’s often as close as the skunk that walked through the back yard.”

Community Prevention

• Ensure dogs, cats, and ferrets are up-to-date on rabies vaccinations.  Vaccinations are also available for horses, cattle, and sheep. The effectiveness of animal vaccines is the main reason for the nationwide decline in rabies cases among people and domestic animals.
• Report wild animals exhibiting unusual behavior or stray pets to animal control officials.
• Keep pets under control and do not allow them to come in contact with wild animals. If a wild animal bites your pet, seek veterinary assistance for the pet immediately.
• Spay or neuter dogs and cats to help reduce the number of unwanted pets that may not be properly cared for or regularly vaccinated.
• Avoid direct contact with wild animals:
• Enjoy animals such as raccoons, skunks, and foxes from afar. Do not handle, feed, or unintentionally attract wild animals with open garbage cans or litter.
• Never adopt wild animals or bring them into your home. Do not try to nurse sick animals to health. Call animal control or an animal rescue agency for assistance.
• Do not keep wild-domestic animal hybrids as pets; for example, a wolf-dog cross.
• Prevent bats from entering living quarters or occupied spaces in homes, churches, schools, and other similar areas, where they might come in contact with people and pets.
• When traveling abroad, avoid direct contact with wild animals and be especially careful around dogs in developing countries. Rabies is common in developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America where dogs are the major reservoir of rabies. Tens of thousands of people die of rabies each year in these countries. Before traveling abroad, consult with a health care provider, travel clinic, or your local or state public health department about the risk of exposure to rabies, pre-exposure protection, and how you should handle an exposure in another country, should it happen.

Tips for Protecting Children
Children suffer a disproportionate number of bites from animals, often resulting in serious injury to the face, head, and neck. The following tips can help children avoid being bitten, and the resulting physical/mental trauma and potential exposure to rabies and other diseases that accompany bites: 

• Teach children never to approach or handle unfamiliar animals, wild or domestic, even if they appear friendly. “Love your own, leave other animals alone” is a good principle for children to learn.
• Never run from a dog or scream at it.
• Report stray dogs or cats and wild animals that are behaving in an unusual manner to an adult.
• Do not try to nurse sick animals to health.  It is common to want to rescue and nurse a hurt animal, but that animal may have rabies or bite viciously out of fear and pain.  Ask an adult for help with the animal.
• Do not disturb a dog that is sleeping, eating, or caring for puppies.
• If bitten, report the bite to an adult immediately.

Anyone who has been bitten by an animal, particularly a stray dog or cat or a wild animal, should wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water for 10 to 15 minutes. If possible, and without further injury, try to capture or confine the biting animal so that it can be quarantined or tested for rabies (depending upon the species of biting animal). If the animal is destroyed, avoid damaging the head since the brain is the only specimen that can be tested for the presence of the rabies virus. Persons should contact their physician to see if medical care (antibiotics, tetanus booster, etc.) is needed, and to have a rabies risk assessment made. If the risk of rabies is high, the physician may determine that the patient needs the anti-rabies series of shots.  Persons bitten by animals should also contact their local health department to seek assistance in obtaining proper disposition of the biting animal. The local health department will determine if action is needed, such as quarantine of the animal or euthanasia and testing for the presence of rabies virus. 

Information pertaining to World Rabies Day can be found on the web at http://www.worldrabiesday.org/index_en.php.  Additional information pertaining to rabies can be found on the DHSS website at http://www.dhss.mo.gov/Rabies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/.