From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2006-11-22 19:17:52 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] a reminder of why rabies vaccines matter
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Thanks to Renee who passed this on:
<http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661120058>
There has been a lot of rabies in N.C.
This ferret case is the first case of a ferret positive for rabies in that
state. The ferret did bite; some instead go into "dumb rabies" where
they behave exactly opposite to that.
The article and experts are fair. For example:
>"Ferrets are animals that can get rabies, but it's not that common,"
> Williams said.
>Seven people exposed to a rabid cat in Cleveland County got
>post-exposure treatment recently. Williams said vaccines alone cost
>$1,300, much more than the cost of vaccinating a pet.
>According to a state health official, ferrets, like the one above, can
>get rabies, but it seldom happens.
The man had not sickened at the time of the article, but hopefully got
the shots. Although there WAS not a documented case of anyone getting
rabies from a ferret as of the last time I checked (several years ago) there
IS the possibility that a ferret might sometime survive long enough to have
the virus in saliva. What happens in rabies is the virus travels up nerves to
the brain, then it has a population explosion in the brain, and after that
travels down nerves to other locations. This is the usual stage where the
animal can become infective (except if it is eaten while diseased in which
case some mammals like dogs and I think humans but not sure -- but
not cats or ferrets -- can get it from ingested neural tissue). What that far
had happened with ferrets is they have died too soon to pass the virus, BUT
partial viruses have made it to saliva so one day a ferret could pass the virus
if someone is unlucky enough to beat the odds.
So, if exposed (bite from a rabid animal, eating a rabid animal, saliva in eyes,
etc. DO get the shot series!
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