Rabies Question?

[Yvsa]

There's a short article in today's Tulsa Daily World, our local newspaper about a severe increase in the incidence of rabies this year among wild animals, mostly, as some domestics are included as well. What's scary is that it's nearly a 50% increase in over what we had last year at this time.
The article said that 27 skunks, 3 cows, and one dog had been found to have rabies and the state is urging folks to make sure their domestic animal's are up to date on their vaccinations.

Anyplace else in the country having a higher incidence of rabies this year so far? These sorts of things tend too run in cycles and when one area has a higher incidence then usually several other areas have the same at about the same or similar rates.

We'll sure be more careful about letting Ace out at night if we smell a skunk in the neighborhood.

 

[Wolf_1989]

Haven't heard anything about this year but we had an outbreak like that about ten years ago.

 

[demon tessu]

27 skunks and one dog is a light year as far as rabies goes, skunks and other scavengers tend to have high instances of rabies.
Make sure your dog has current vaccinations and you'll be fine

 

[Esav Benyamin]

It is hard to estimate incidence when biologists don't test a significant sample of the population, or sometimes don't even know how extensive the population is.

In any case, as demon tessu wrote, make sure your dog's vaccinated and the worst of the problem goes away. Even in a "good" year, you don't want to take that chance. That report may not have been accurate, but it's a good reminder anyway!

 

[Yvsa]

It is hard to estimate incidence when biologists don't test a significant sample of the population, or sometimes don't even know how extensive the population is.

That report may not have been accurate, but it's a good reminder anyway!

True as it seems that the study has taken place in three counties so far. We have an abundance of skunks - and - armadillos here in Oklahoma these days it seems.
Ace is always kept up to date on his shots so we have no worry there.:thumbup:

 

[Nordic Viking]

Yvsa,

Do you have any bats in your area. I read about someone being bitten by a rabid bat in their bedroom once.

 

[xinel]

When me and the folks went camping out bush one year the ranger told us to avoid the bats since they may have rabies. Think rangers did tests and kept shooting them till none they tested had rabies over the course of a few years.

 

[Yvsa]

Yvsa,

Do you have any bats in your area. I read about someone being bitten by a rabid bat in their bedroom once.

NV we see a bat upon occasion and I wish we saw more of them as they are great bug eaters!:thumbup: It's true that some bats do carry rabies but our greatest problem here is skunks. One popular name for skunks here is, "Rabies Cats."
My main concern and question is if anyone else in other areas are seeing an increase in rabies. Generally it passes from a wild animals like skunks to domestic animals such as a cows or dogs and then can spread from there.
Rabies isn't so bad unless the symptoms are pretty much full fledged and then it is almost always fatal.
And it's sort of like the Bubonic Plague that experiences up cycles from time to time in the Southwest because of ground squirrels and other rodents.
There is almost always a few cases reported every year on some of the ndn rezes in the Southwestern USA. The CDC has tried to eradicate the diseases for years but they keep popping up. But at least they are much better controlled than they used to be.:thumbup:

 

[Big Bob]

Yvsa,

Do you have any bats in your area. I read about someone being bitten by a rabid bat in their bedroom once.

Yvsa, as long as Ace is vacinated, he's OK. A bit offtopic but I did an online course on Rabies read that bats have been the cause of the vast majority of recent cases of humans contracting rabies in the US.

Bob

 

[Yvsa]

Yvsa, as long as Ace is vacinated, he's OK. A bit offtopic but I did an online course on Rabies read that bats have been the cause of the vast majority of recent cases of humans contracting rabies in the US.

Bob

Thanks Bob. I know Ace is safe but with as often as we smell skunk here anyway we don't want to take any chances with him getting sprayed as well as possibly getting bit although I'd like to think he would leave a skunk alone if he were to be sprayed.
But with Ace being mostly Rat Terrier and having the Terrierorist aggression I'm not sure what he would do.

Skunks are still the primary carrier of rabies in Oklahoma commanding some 68.9% of rabies cases compared with only about 4% in bats. Strangely enough there seems to be more incidences of coming into contact with a rabid bat in an urban area rather than a rural area.
In Redbud Valley, a local Nature Preserve I used to walk at, there are a couple of small caves where bats live as well as hibernate over winter. There are some young and limber folks that crawl in them to look around when the bats quit hibernating in the spring and I've seen a couple hanging from the ceiling in what apparently was a much larger cave at one time where an outside wall eroded off long, long, ago leaving it open to the elements. Strangely enough there are still stalagmites and stalactites still growing slowly along the back wall where the water still seeps in quite often.
I used to love to stop there and play my Flute as the acoustics are really nice there and magical as well when the not so little spring overflows during the rainy season.:thumbup:

http://digital.library.okstate.edu/OAS/oas_pdf/v78/p59_65.pdf

http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/publications/bats.htm

http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/8/3/245.pdf

 

[tsf]

We had a teeenager bitten by a bat that flew in his bedroom window last year in Houston. He died. One more case after that of someone bitten by a bat. Luckily they recieved prompt treatment and survived. Can't be too careful with wild animals. I am always armed when at the ranch. If you see a skunk during the day, shoot it. They are nocturnal animals and there is probably something wrong with it.
Terry

 

[Thomas Linton]

They used to teach that rabies without shots was 100% fatal for Homo Sap. Then (IIRC) a guy survived. In any case, its a serious threat.

Hereabouts, a reported rise in rabies among racoons caused aerial dropping of bait with the rabies meds in the bait. Apparently, either it worked -- or the problem was reduced "on its own."

 

[spiraltwista]

I presume hope you guys in rabies areas get vacinated yourselves as well? not just your pets?

I got the vacine before going to Nepal, lots of dogs & monkeys with it out there.

Spiral

 

[T-BAG]

Long Beach Calif.......Some kids came to elementary school early and two girls found a bat tangled up in the basket ball net on the basketball courts. One girl stood on the others shoulders and freed the bat which just fell to the ground and hobbled . She told a teacher and the police came out and animal control came and took the bat away...It had rabies and the girl who touched it had to go thru the shots even tho it didn't bite her. The cops said their have been a lot of dead oppossums and skunks in the area also...don't touch em at all....call the police he said.

BTW I didn't know cows could get rabies....I learn something new every day on this site....lol........LET ME GUESS, You can tell cuz they have foaming udders ??

 

[Yvsa]

I presume hope you guys in rabies areas get vacinated yourselves as well?

Spiral

Spiral I had never thought about a preventive vaccine for us human beings but it does stand to reason. The incidence of anyone catching rabies is very, very, low here in the US probably much like UK. I hadn't thought about getting a vaccination for myself and family but it stands to reason if you were going to a high incidence area such as Nepal.

BTW I didn't know cows could get rabies....I learn something new every day on this site....lol

T-Bag I do too, learn something new here everyday that is.
Another thing you have too look out for if you live in the southern states where there are a lot of armadillos is Leprosy, that is if you handle many wild ones.
A Texas hunter caught and was treated fro Leprosy several years ago after he picked up and cleaned the wrong one.
Armadillos make for really good eating and is a fairly common food for some people in some areas.
The research Drs' came up with the cure for Leprosy by studying armadillos they infected with the disease. I haven't heard of a case of Leprosy for years now but it could still be a viable disease in some places I suppose.

 

[FullerH]

Rabies has been pandemic in the Mid-Atlantic states for some years, perhaps decades, now. In Northern Virginia, any animal bite is considered a rabies infection unless you can find the animal and prove that it: 1) has up to date rabies vaccinations or 2) they can test it, which is fatal to the animal, IIRC. It well behooves anyone with pets to keep their pets' shots up to date, even with indoor pets such as our cats.

A friend going overseas with the Foreign Service some years back said that he and his family were all given the first of the rabies shots because that triggered the antibodies. He said that the State Department docs told him that the chances of recovery if you are infected with rabies are very bad unless this has been done. This is very scary stuff.

 

[Will Power]

When me and the folks went camping out bush one year the ranger told us to avoid the bats since they may have rabies. Think rangers did tests and kept shooting them till none they tested had rabies over the course of a few years.

Avoid bats? You flying?Bats with rabies? How would that be possible? Bats are rather small compared to other mammals that might be rabid and they're er mainly aerial not terrestial. Sounds like the rangers just wanted an excuse to shoot an important animal.

 

[Yvsa]

Avoid bats? You flying?Bats with rabies? How would that be possible? Bats are rather small compared to other mammals that might be rabid and they're er mainly aerial not terrestial. Sounds like the rangers just wanted an excuse to shoot an important animal.

Willgoy although bats are an aerial animal a rabid bat often will go to ground where someone will pick it up. People have to have the rabies injections just in case because it is such a fearsome and fatal disease.
And our Rangers don't just go around shooting animals for the fun of it whether a beneficial animal or not.
Our Rangers are very dedicated to preservation and execution is used only as a last resort when there is absolutely no other choice.

 

[spiraltwista]

Spiral I had never thought about a preventive vaccine for us human beings but it does stand to reason. The incidence of anyone catching rabies is very, very, low here in the US probably much like UK. I hadn't thought about getting a vaccination for myself and family but it stands to reason if you were going to a high incidence area such as Nepal.

.

mmmm yep about one case a year in the UK usualy from animal care workers from Bats, but they always say they just flew in from France, officialy the UK is free from rabies since about 1925.

{Just dont handle the bats. }

Ive see bats in woods sleeping in lightning hit trees at only 5ft off the ground, I wouldnt touch them though, I made the mistake of rescuing a squirrel from a Jack Russel terrier once.

Spiral

 

[Yvsa]

Ive see bats in woods sleeping in lightning hit trees at only 5ft off the ground, I wouldnt touch them though, I made the mistake of rescuing a squirrel from a Jack Russel terrier once.

Spiral

LMSRRBO!!!!:thumbup: I would've loved to have seen you trying to turn the squirrel loose!!!!:thumbup:

Many, many, years ago here in Tulsa at Mohawk Park, a Nature Preserve and where the Tulsa Zoo is located, a fellow was arrested and fined heavily for catching several of the humongous local squirrel population with a rod and reel baited with canned corn. He was fishing and not having any luck and one of the braver squirrels ran up to get some of the corn he had discarded off of a hook and that gave him the idea. He baited a fresh hook and threw it up the bank where a squirrel rapidly ran down, picked it up, and started eating the corn on the hook. The fellow pulled and set the hook and the battle was on and with a great deal of yelping and barking from the squirrel.
Needless to say after he had caught several of them someone heard the commotion and turned him in.
He said it was great fun until he was caught.