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Source: http://www.stripes.com/news/army/ar...stray-animals-following-rabies-death-1.158120
Army seeking troops bitten by stray animals following rabies death
By Erik Slavin
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 19, 2011
SEOUL ? The Army is redoubling its search for anyone who might have been bitten by a wild animal in Iraq or Afghanistan following the Aug. 31 death of a soldier from rabies, the service?s public health command stated Wednesday...
...Spc. Kevin Shumaker, 24, became the first soldier to die from rabies since 1967 after he was bitten by a stray dog in Afghanistan.
Shumaker told his parents that he received three of six necessary rabies shots in Afghanistan, but did not receive the final shots because they were expired, according to a Contra Costa Times report. Shumaker, a 10th Mountain Division soldier, died at Fort Drum, N.Y., eight months after the bite...
...In September, the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center released a study reporting that servicemembers sustained 20,522 animal bites from January 2001 to December 2010, or about 40 per week. Most were bitten in the United States, where rabies is rare.
Of the 643 troops bitten in Iraq or Afghanistan, only 117 received rabies vaccines, according to the report.
The report notes that some of those bites may have come from military working dogs, which are vaccinated against rabies. The report also stated that the military?s bite statistics are undoubtedly underestimated, since minor bites often go unreported.
?However, even minor animal bite injuries can have serious consequences ? particularly bites inflicted by wild animals,? the report stated.
The rabies vaccine and the immune globulin used to treat unvaccinated bite victims are available at larger bases with medical refrigeration facilities. However, many of the small, primitive forward operating bases in places like Afghanistan don?t have the vaccine or globulin...
Army seeking troops bitten by stray animals following rabies death
By Erik Slavin
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 19, 2011
SEOUL ? The Army is redoubling its search for anyone who might have been bitten by a wild animal in Iraq or Afghanistan following the Aug. 31 death of a soldier from rabies, the service?s public health command stated Wednesday...
...Spc. Kevin Shumaker, 24, became the first soldier to die from rabies since 1967 after he was bitten by a stray dog in Afghanistan.
Shumaker told his parents that he received three of six necessary rabies shots in Afghanistan, but did not receive the final shots because they were expired, according to a Contra Costa Times report. Shumaker, a 10th Mountain Division soldier, died at Fort Drum, N.Y., eight months after the bite...
...In September, the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center released a study reporting that servicemembers sustained 20,522 animal bites from January 2001 to December 2010, or about 40 per week. Most were bitten in the United States, where rabies is rare.
Of the 643 troops bitten in Iraq or Afghanistan, only 117 received rabies vaccines, according to the report.
The report notes that some of those bites may have come from military working dogs, which are vaccinated against rabies. The report also stated that the military?s bite statistics are undoubtedly underestimated, since minor bites often go unreported.
?However, even minor animal bite injuries can have serious consequences ? particularly bites inflicted by wild animals,? the report stated.
The rabies vaccine and the immune globulin used to treat unvaccinated bite victims are available at larger bases with medical refrigeration facilities. However, many of the small, primitive forward operating bases in places like Afghanistan don?t have the vaccine or globulin...