Louisiana reports first human rabies death in 60 years

wafb.com ^ | 08/24/10 | wafb

[TornadoAlley3]

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals said a Hispanic field worker died over the weekend of rabies.

The victim was initially taken to a hospital in New Roads and transferred to New Orleans, where he later died.

Lisa Faust with DHH confirmed the case is the first human death in Louisiana attributed to rabies in more than 60 years.

The department reported it has contacted the victim's co-workers and tested them.

Health officials are continuing to follow up on their treatment.

DHH added the man, who is unidentified at this time, contacted rabies in Mexico and brought it to the U.S.

Disease experts with the CDC report all mammals are susceptible to rabies, but only a few species are important as reservoirs for the disease.

In the U.S., distinct strains of rabies virus have been identified in raccoons, skunks, foxes and coyotes.

Several species of bats are also reservoirs for strains of the rabies virus.

Transmission of rabies virus usually begins when infected saliva of a host is passed to an uninfected animal.

The most common mode of rabies virus transmission is through the bite and virus-containing saliva of an infected host.

Click here for more information on rabies from DHH

Click here for more information on rabies from the CDC

[elli1]

DHH added the man, who is unidentified at this time, contacted rabies in Mexico and brought it to the U.S.

I hate to bust your xenophobic little bubble but you can get rabies, really, in the good old USA, too. Useful information that might save your life if you think the US is rabies-free.

Here's a somewhat recent case with a happy ending:

Girl Cured of Disease

[kalee]

I am involved with cocker rescue and shelters call us all the time to come get pure or mixed cockers that they have.

[dainbramaged]

“Animal Shelters are now importing dogs into the US from the Carribean and Mexico.”
They are also bringing in stray dogs from Taiwan to be socialized and adopted - makes no sense at all. Plus a lot of these rescue groups insist on a home inspection before you take Fido home.

[nina0113]

Some shelters are fine with it. Some aren't. If I were running a shelter, my preference would be for families to get the 'good' dogs, rather than a breed-rescue group. If it's a question of being put down for lack of space, then rescue is better than that, of course.

I waited a long time for a dog kinda like what I wanted (a collie) to come up, because I couldn't afford the $400 the local collie rescue group charges. There were always plenty of pitbulls, of course.

I don't hate pits, but they are both aggressive and have greater capacity to do damage than many other breeds, and they're not for just anyone. I wouldn't have one myself, I'm not good enough at enforcing my alpha-dom.

[jagusafr]

DHH added the man, who is unidentified at this time, contacted rabies in Mexico and brought it to the U.S.
______________________

So all that foaming at the mouth over the Arizona immigration law was just rabies? Who knew?

Colonel, USAFR

[kalee]

No xenophobia, I have friends whose young daughter were bitten by a rabid raccoon here in NC. They immediately went to the hospital where the whole family was placed under treatment. They did not go to another country endangering themselves and others.
This man obviously did not know the danger he was to himself and others. People do not die here due to vaccination programs for pets, education of the dangers of rabies and available treatment for humans. We have “happy endings”, which is not the case in Mexico which has an average of 74 deaths per year due to rabies.

BTW the treatment is very expensive and was not covered by their insurance.

[woodbutcher1963]

Animal Shelters are a for profit business. These rescue groups are more intrusive into your business than a purebred breeder who dog won the Westminster Kennel Club show.

[sockmonkey]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,195339,00.html

I remembered this Texas Teen dying of rabies a few years ago. A bat flew in his bedroom window and bit him.

[Frenchtown Dan]

Symptons for rabies don’t show up for a good 10 days or so.
In the mean time, it is not detectable. By the time it reaches the brain is when the symptms appear, and by that time the vaccine is useless. Before the 10 days is over however, the vaccine is 95% successful, and does not have to be given in the stomach.

To detect rabies, they need brain tissue. Rabies is luminous under ultraviolet light. As far as I know, that is still the only way to detect it today, from brain tissue.

[Hawthorn]

>> They are also bringing in stray dogs from Taiwan <<

When I lived in Taiwan (30+ years ago), it was widely believed that most stray dogs ended up on restaurants’ serving dishes.