Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2012
Source: Bangkok Post [summarised, edited]
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/306009/bma-on-rabies-alert-after-rabbit-bites-family
BMA on rabies alert after rabbit bites family
---------------------------------------------
Health officials are fanning out to contain a rabies threat in Chom Thong district after members of a family were bitten by a pet rabbit infected with the virus.
Deputy Bangkok governor Malinee Sukvejvorakij said the family's members were given rabies injections after their pet rabbit died and posthumously tested positive for the virus.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) health authorities will meet tomorrow to identify the source of the rabbit's rabies infection so they can prevent a possible epidemic. Their search will probably include a trip to Chatuchak Weekend Market, where the infected rabbit was bought.
The deputy governor said 120 health officials are checking the areas around the family's neighbourhood for signs of the disease. Pets such as dogs and cats within a 5-km radius of the family's home have been vaccinated against rabies.
"This is a rare case. There is only a 5 percent chance that a pet rabbit will be infected with rabies; more than 90 percent of cases are dogs and cats," Dr Malinee said. [see comment].
Phinai Luanprasert, director of the BMA-run 29th Public Health Centre, said Samruay Phumarin, 42, visited the centre on Friday and said his family had been bitten by their pet rabbit, which was infected with rabies.
Mr Samruay said the dead rabbit, named Poko, was one of 2 rabbits he bought from Chatuchak Weekend Market late last year.
Mr Samruay said Poko began biting the feet of family members starting around 10 Jun 2012. The family eventually had to put the rabbit in a kennel.
Mr Samruay's son bled after being bitten by Poko while feeding the rabbit; he has since received anti-rabies shots. The animal died on 28 Jul 2012. The next day, the female rabbit also died.
Mr Samruay's family suspected Poko carried rabies and sent its carcass to the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute for examination. The rabies test came back positive. Mr Samruay and his family received shots from the hospital, but he worried he may have received the injection too late as he was bitten several days before.
Dr Malinee said he knew of no rabies infections to have been reported among rabbits in Thailand before this case.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Susan Baekland <promed@promedmail.org>
[A rather exceptional, strange history, including the described timeline: the rabbit, eventually to be found 'rabies positive', started biting 10 Jun and died 28 Jul -- namely after about 50 days. Reportedly, the aggressive pet was put in a kennel where -- allegedly, it died. A lot of epidemiological investigation still to be carried out.
Rabies is extremely rare in small rodents, (rats, mice) squirrels, opossums, and in lagomorphs (rabbits and hares).
As commented by Mod. CP in posting 20070521.1623, a paper in the Journal of the American Veterinary Association in 2005 (15; 227(6): 932-5, 918), reported that raccoon-variant rabies had been confirmed in 7 pet rabbits and one pet guinea pig in New York State, and post-exposure treatment was required in several adults and children.
For the report on an earlier (1997) laboratory confirmed case, involving a rabbit kept in a petting zoo in northern Israel with history of exposure to an unidentified animal intruder (the size of a fox or mongoose), see posting 20041129.3190.
It is recommended that bites and scratches to humans from rodents and lagomorphs should be evaluated for potential rabies exposure on an individual basis, with consideration of whether the animal was caged outside or permitted outdoors unsupervised, or if any exposure to a potentially rabid animal had been convincingly reported. - Mod.AS]
http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20120805.1229375
**************************************
Published Date: 2012-08-05 09:14:40
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Rabies, beaver - USA (PA)
Archive Number: 20120805.1228835
RABIES, BEAVER - USA (PENNSYLVANIA)
***********************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: 4 Aug 2012
Source: AP [edited]
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/04/4692172/swimmer-bitten-by-rabid-beaver.html
Swimmer bitten by rabid beaver at eastern Pennsylvania park
-----------
Officials say a man swimming at an eastern Pennsylvania park was bitten by a beaver that later tested positive for rabies.
The National Park Service said Friday [3 Aug 2012] that the visitor, who was not named, was bitten Thursday [2 Aug 2012] at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Superintendent John Donahue said the person was swimming in the Delaware River just south of the park's Eshback Access near Bushkill at the time. He said the animal was later tested for rabies and the test came back positive.
Donahue said he did not know whether other park animals had rabies, which is transmitted by the bites of infected animals. Anyone who sees sick or dead wildlife there is being warned not to approach or touch the animals but to call the park's emergency center.
--
Communicated by
ProMED-Mail Correspondent Susan Baekeland
[Once they have the rabies virus typed it will be clearer how this beaver got infected, presumably when it was ashore and feeding.
To find Delaware Water Gap, go to:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Delaware Water Gap&state=PA
http://www.nps.gov/dewa/planyourvisit/maps.htm
-Mod MHJ]
[A rabid fox attacked people in Pennsylvania before, and another fox could have done the same to the beaver -- see ProMED 2009 reference below.
Photo of North American beavers [_Castor canadensis_]:
http://adamwelz.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/beaver-wide-close.jpg
- Mod.JW]
http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20120805.1228835
Source: Bangkok Post [summarised, edited]
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/306009/bma-on-rabies-alert-after-rabbit-bites-family
BMA on rabies alert after rabbit bites family
---------------------------------------------
Health officials are fanning out to contain a rabies threat in Chom Thong district after members of a family were bitten by a pet rabbit infected with the virus.
Deputy Bangkok governor Malinee Sukvejvorakij said the family's members were given rabies injections after their pet rabbit died and posthumously tested positive for the virus.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) health authorities will meet tomorrow to identify the source of the rabbit's rabies infection so they can prevent a possible epidemic. Their search will probably include a trip to Chatuchak Weekend Market, where the infected rabbit was bought.
The deputy governor said 120 health officials are checking the areas around the family's neighbourhood for signs of the disease. Pets such as dogs and cats within a 5-km radius of the family's home have been vaccinated against rabies.
"This is a rare case. There is only a 5 percent chance that a pet rabbit will be infected with rabies; more than 90 percent of cases are dogs and cats," Dr Malinee said. [see comment].
Phinai Luanprasert, director of the BMA-run 29th Public Health Centre, said Samruay Phumarin, 42, visited the centre on Friday and said his family had been bitten by their pet rabbit, which was infected with rabies.
Mr Samruay said the dead rabbit, named Poko, was one of 2 rabbits he bought from Chatuchak Weekend Market late last year.
Mr Samruay said Poko began biting the feet of family members starting around 10 Jun 2012. The family eventually had to put the rabbit in a kennel.
Mr Samruay's son bled after being bitten by Poko while feeding the rabbit; he has since received anti-rabies shots. The animal died on 28 Jul 2012. The next day, the female rabbit also died.
Mr Samruay's family suspected Poko carried rabies and sent its carcass to the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute for examination. The rabies test came back positive. Mr Samruay and his family received shots from the hospital, but he worried he may have received the injection too late as he was bitten several days before.
Dr Malinee said he knew of no rabies infections to have been reported among rabbits in Thailand before this case.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Susan Baekland <promed@promedmail.org>
[A rather exceptional, strange history, including the described timeline: the rabbit, eventually to be found 'rabies positive', started biting 10 Jun and died 28 Jul -- namely after about 50 days. Reportedly, the aggressive pet was put in a kennel where -- allegedly, it died. A lot of epidemiological investigation still to be carried out.
Rabies is extremely rare in small rodents, (rats, mice) squirrels, opossums, and in lagomorphs (rabbits and hares).
As commented by Mod. CP in posting 20070521.1623, a paper in the Journal of the American Veterinary Association in 2005 (15; 227(6): 932-5, 918), reported that raccoon-variant rabies had been confirmed in 7 pet rabbits and one pet guinea pig in New York State, and post-exposure treatment was required in several adults and children.
For the report on an earlier (1997) laboratory confirmed case, involving a rabbit kept in a petting zoo in northern Israel with history of exposure to an unidentified animal intruder (the size of a fox or mongoose), see posting 20041129.3190.
It is recommended that bites and scratches to humans from rodents and lagomorphs should be evaluated for potential rabies exposure on an individual basis, with consideration of whether the animal was caged outside or permitted outdoors unsupervised, or if any exposure to a potentially rabid animal had been convincingly reported. - Mod.AS]
http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20120805.1229375
**************************************
Published Date: 2012-08-05 09:14:40
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Rabies, beaver - USA (PA)
Archive Number: 20120805.1228835
RABIES, BEAVER - USA (PENNSYLVANIA)
***********************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: 4 Aug 2012
Source: AP [edited]
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/04/4692172/swimmer-bitten-by-rabid-beaver.html
Swimmer bitten by rabid beaver at eastern Pennsylvania park
-----------
Officials say a man swimming at an eastern Pennsylvania park was bitten by a beaver that later tested positive for rabies.
The National Park Service said Friday [3 Aug 2012] that the visitor, who was not named, was bitten Thursday [2 Aug 2012] at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Superintendent John Donahue said the person was swimming in the Delaware River just south of the park's Eshback Access near Bushkill at the time. He said the animal was later tested for rabies and the test came back positive.
Donahue said he did not know whether other park animals had rabies, which is transmitted by the bites of infected animals. Anyone who sees sick or dead wildlife there is being warned not to approach or touch the animals but to call the park's emergency center.
--
Communicated by
ProMED-Mail Correspondent Susan Baekeland
[Once they have the rabies virus typed it will be clearer how this beaver got infected, presumably when it was ashore and feeding.
To find Delaware Water Gap, go to:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Delaware Water Gap&state=PA
http://www.nps.gov/dewa/planyourvisit/maps.htm
-Mod MHJ]
[A rabid fox attacked people in Pennsylvania before, and another fox could have done the same to the beaver -- see ProMED 2009 reference below.
Photo of North American beavers [_Castor canadensis_]:
http://adamwelz.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/beaver-wide-close.jpg
- Mod.JW]
http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20120805.1228835