Rabies question

You can also get it through your eyes or nose (mucus membrain) if you get saliva on your hands or etc. then rub your eyes or nose. Many years ago a service man stationed in Norfolk VA picked up a baby raccoon then rub his nose or eyes and contracted the diesese only case Ive ever heard of.
 
Yep, Jack Roberts and VaPredHunter answers are both correct.

Human Rabies
Q: How do people get rabies?

A: People usually get rabies from the bite of a rabid animal. It is also possible, but quite rare, that people may get rabies if infectious material from a rabid animal, such as saliva, gets directly into their eyes, nose, mouth, or a wound.

Q: Can I get rabies in any way other than an animal bite?

A: Non-bite exposures to rabies are very rare. Scratches, abrasions, open wounds, or mucous membranes contaminated with saliva or other potentially infectious material (such as brain tissue) from a rabid animal constitute non-bite exposures. Occasionally reports of non-bite exposure are such that postexposure prophylaxis is given.
Inhalation of aerosolized rabies virus is also a potential non-bite route of exposure, but other than laboratory workers, most people are unlikely to encounter an aerosol of rabies virus.
Other contact, such as petting a rabid animal or contact with the blood, urine or feces (e.g., guano) of a rabid animal, does not constitute an exposure and is not an indication for prophylaxis.


Q: What animals get rabies?

A: Any mammal can get rabies. The most common wild reservoirs of rabies are raccoons, skunks, bats, foxes, and coyotes. Domestic mammals can also get rabies. Cats, cattle, and dogs are the most frequently reported rabid domestic animals in the United States.



Questions and answers concerning Rabies, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:


http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/Ques&Ans/q&a.htm
 
on the news here in casper wy today a lady found a dead bat on her porch and her border collie walked up and sniffed it so metro animal control took her dog the bat was proved to have rabies
 
Well what we always tell people at my work place is rabies is always 100% preventable with proper post exposure procedure and always 100% fatal when exposure is ignored. Do you want to take the risk that some fluid be it saliva is on the hair from the yote doing the death roll dance and then you grab it by the leg and when you get back to your car or where ever you make a hand to mouth contact ( opening a beverage container, smoking, coughing, eating, scratching etc.. The scarry part is the subconcious movements like coughing and sneezing that bring your hand to mouth w/o thought)

I was vacinated and I have not followed up with the titers in a few years. I wear gloves when skinning and when we have a outbreak ( every 3-4 years ) I will not shoot coons as they have it most frequently in my area and I would not touch an animal if it was acting abnormally or had wounds on it except for the obvious gun shot wound. Always wear gloves when skinning and then wash down everything including yourself and anything in the area with 10% bleach.

If you are in doubt most insurances pay for post exposure treatment and its nothing like the urban legend and ifya live in a social state like Massachusetts and do not have the money than the state laws require the town to pick up the tab. They do not like that to get out as its very costly.

Stay safe.
 
Ok maybe someone can answer this question. I was reading the summer issue of Predator & Prey and there was an article about wildlife diseases now I noticed it said once rabies is out of body it deterorates quickly and temperature also affects it and it is uncommon for opossums to carry it since their body temp is lower. Ok my question is if you freeze your fox or coyotes or etc. before you skin them will this lower the risk of transmitting rabies if you cut my finger or something. I've always been aware of the danger but everything you read informs you what to do if your bitten or if you come in contact with an affected animal. They don't tell you how to handle before and when you skin them etc. In our cases we have no way to know we put ourselves at high risk every time we hunt and in most cases we don't get to study their behavior before we shoot.
 
Many, even part time fur collectors, get immunized so they do not have to worry about it. If you are collecting fur, prior immunization sure makes sense.

Jack
 
I wear surgeon's gloves or the green chem gloves while skinning, always. I wear a good dust mask, I don't want to breath anything in that was in the fur of the animal.
I heard that when the body temp drops the rabies dies. I wonder if that is why it seems in the hot summer you hear the rabies is worse than other times of the year.T.20
 
Yes once the virus is exposed to the atmosphere or sun light it reduces the shelf life of the virus to infect. But freezing on the other hand preserves the virus and the virus can remain intact while froozen for years and once thawed it will be as deadly as the day you frooze it.

One cheap and easy protocol to reduce the hazards of our pursuit is to carry a spray bottle with a 1:10 bleach solution to spray down areas or other contact items or surfaces. Remember the effectivness of bleach is reduced with age and its exposure to sunlight, so keep it in a non-transparent bottle and after a month get rid of it. This should only be used on tools , surfaces and not used as a first line of prevention.
 


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