Unless you encounter wild animals like raccoons and foxes often, or your pets are outdoor roamers, you may not think much about rabies. But anyone with pets or who comes across pets should be aware of this disease and its dangers.
Symptoms
You won’t see symptoms unless you have been bitten by any warm-blooded animal. Early symptoms during the first 2-10 days may include:
- Weakness
- Discomfort at the bite
- Fever
- Headache
More severe symptoms after the acute period can include:
- Anxiety
- Confusion
- Agitation
- Deliruim
- Abnormal behavior
- Hallucinations
- Insomnia
- Hydrophobia
What is Hydrophobia?
Hydrophobia (fear of water) is the historic name for rabies, and specifically refers to difficulty swallowing and panic when presented with liquids. Because rabies transmits through the saliva, the virus causes the throat to spasm and causes fear of water/liquids to increase the likelihood of transmission.
Furious rabies (the type associated with hydrophobia) affects about 80% of infected people. The other 20% tend to experience paralytic rabies. This type exhibits muscle weakness, numbness, and paralysis, and does not usually come with hydrophobia.
Treating Rabies
Treat any bite from a carnivorous mammal as potentially rabid. Wash bites immediately with clean water or a diluted water povidone-iodine solution. Then see your doctor right away. He or she will administer a tetanus shot if you haven’t had it updated for 10 or more years. Antibiotics and closures (stitches) will then be part of the discussion, depending on the size of the bite.
Preventing the disease requires prompt injections of human immune globulin and the rabies vaccine. You should always get your injections right away, before the acute period can end.
Do You Have to Get Vaccinated?
Yes! Rabies is almost always fatal once clinical symptoms begin showing. That’s why it’s important to receive vaccinations immediately after any animal bite. There are only a few exceptions under the Milkwaukee protocol. This treatment involves an induced coma, first tested on teenager Jeanna Giese in 2004. However, only a handful of patients have survived rabies with this treatment. It has only an 8% survival rate.
How Can You Prevent Rabies?
Avoid wild animals and strays, or any animal acting strangely. You should also keep your pets under supervision and away from potential rabies carriers.
Vaccinate your pets on schedule and keep them up-to-date. Only the vaccinations can help prevent rabies. If your pet may have been bitten by an animal with rabies, they will need to be kept under observation for 45 days, according to the CDC. Pets with expired vaccinations will have a case-by-case evaluation. Sadly, pets that have never had the rabies vaccine should be euthanized. If you are unwilling to do this, you and your vet should put your pet in strict isolation for 6 months. Then, they will receive the rabies vaccine 1 month before release.
What Animals Are at Risk?
Any warm-blooded animal–including birds–can contract rabies. So vaccinate your cats, dogs, and ferrets! If you have an exotic pet, such as a fox in some areas, be aware that many of them do not yet have an available vaccine! These pets will have to stay under close supervision and away from wild animals.
Above all, be careful around all animals. If you see one behaving strangely or aggressively, or otherwise showing rabies signs, call Animal Control right away.