Recent unusual incidents involving humans and rabid animals and a subsequent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory have prompted concerns about rabies, but it’s not clear if there has actually been an increase in cases of the deadly disease in the United States, experts say. In recent months, rabid beavers have attacked three people in Maryland, and hundreds of people were exposed to goats with rabies at a petting zoo in North Carolina, according to news reports. The CDC issued a health advisory on 10 September “in response to recent reports of increases in human exposures to rabid or possibly rabid animals”.
Despite the uncertainty over whether people encountered rabid animals or simply were worried that they did, the increased news coverage and greater awareness of the disease is a good thing, experts suggested. Hundreds of people used to die annually in the United States from rabies, but measures like vaccines and animal control programs have led to fewer than 10 people typically dying each year from the diseases, according to the CDC. Still, from July to August, the federal agency received 17% more rabies-related inquiries, including reports of mass exposure events, as compared with the same period last year.
The agency also received reports from state health departments of increased administration of post-exposure prophylaxis treatments after a possible rabies exposure. In July, a wild skunk entered a baby goats’ pen at a farm in Harmony, North Carolina, CNN reported. Months later, hundreds of people interacted with the goats, at least some of which had rabies.
Local health departments then monitored those humans, and hundreds received prophylaxis treatment. There have not been reports of any related deaths. In Maryland, a 13-year-old was swimming at a state park when a beaver attacked him.
The boy survived but had to have three surgeries to his chest and hands to repair nerve damage. When asked if there was a common cause for such incidents, Meghan Davis, an associate professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University said: “I think what we are seeing is a little bit of bad luck.” The goats had not been old enough to be vaccinated. Beavers rarely get rabies.
Despite all the scientific advancements, people do still occasionally die from rabies. In 2011, Tonji Durant’s sister, Ivy, called her local animal control office in South Carolina to inform them of bats in her home. The local officials did not provide her with guidance on what she should do to protect herself, such as getting a medical assessment, Durant, a retired CDC epidemiologist, said.
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