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South Carolina, Raccoon exposes Lee County woman to rabies (Health Dept., December 10 2012)
[Source: South Carolina Department of Health, full page: (LINK). Edited.]
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / Dec. 10, 2012
Raccoon exposes Lee County woman to rabies
COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Post-exposure treatments are being administered to a Lee County woman after she was bitten by a raccoon who tested positive for rabies, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported today.
"To reduce the risk of getting rabies, we recommend that people avoid wild animals acting tame and tame animals acting wild," said Sue Ferguson of? DHEC’s Bureau of Environmental Health." About 275 South Carolinians must undergo preventive treatment for rabies every year, with most exposures coming from bites or scratches by a rabid or suspected rabid animal. Wild animals carry the disease most often, but domestic pets can contract rabies as well.?
Ferguson said state law requires pet owners to have their pets regularly vaccinated against the disease.
?If you think you have been exposed to the rabies virus through a bite, scratch or the saliva of a possibly infected animal, immediately wash the affected area with plenty of soap and water,? she said. ?Then be sure to get medical attention and report the incident to DHEC.?
There were 107 confirmed cases of animal rabies during 2011 in South Carolina. There have been 131 confirmed cases in animals statewide this year.
For more information about rabies, see DHEC's webpage at: http://www.scdhec.gov/rabies or contact your local DHEC environmental health office. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's webpage about rabies can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/rabies.
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For media inquiries: Lindsey Evans - (803) 898-1127 / Email ? evansl2@dhec.sc.gov
-Raccoon exposes Lee County woman to rabies
COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Post-exposure treatments are being administered to a Lee County woman after she was bitten by a raccoon who tested positive for rabies, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported today.
"To reduce the risk of getting rabies, we recommend that people avoid wild animals acting tame and tame animals acting wild," said Sue Ferguson of? DHEC’s Bureau of Environmental Health." About 275 South Carolinians must undergo preventive treatment for rabies every year, with most exposures coming from bites or scratches by a rabid or suspected rabid animal. Wild animals carry the disease most often, but domestic pets can contract rabies as well.?
Ferguson said state law requires pet owners to have their pets regularly vaccinated against the disease.
?If you think you have been exposed to the rabies virus through a bite, scratch or the saliva of a possibly infected animal, immediately wash the affected area with plenty of soap and water,? she said. ?Then be sure to get medical attention and report the incident to DHEC.?
There were 107 confirmed cases of animal rabies during 2011 in South Carolina. There have been 131 confirmed cases in animals statewide this year.
For more information about rabies, see DHEC's webpage at: http://www.scdhec.gov/rabies or contact your local DHEC environmental health office. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's webpage about rabies can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/rabies.
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For media inquiries: Lindsey Evans - (803) 898-1127 / Email ? evansl2@dhec.sc.gov
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