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Norristown, PA (April 17, 2017) – The Montgomery County Health Department (MCHD) will be conducting its annual Low-Cost Rabies Immunization Clinics for the 26th consecutive year. This year, the Health Department aimed to improve access to the clinics and increase utilization of the service by residents by altering the schedule from previous years. The clinics this year will be held on the third Saturday during the months of May and September 2017 offering, like in previous years, licensed rabies vaccine to cats, dogs, and ferrets at a reduced cost.
RABIES CLINIC LOCATIONS
The 2017 Low-Cost Rabies Immunization Clinic locations, dates, and extended times are:
Abington Recycling Center
2201 Florey Lane
(off of Easton Road)
9 a.m. – noon
Montgomery Hose Fire Company
201 West Freedley St.
In 2016, MCHD’s Low Cost Rabies Clinic provided vaccines to 578 pets which were vaccinated at four Rabies Clinic sites in Montgomery County:
MCHD would like to take this opportunity to discuss rabies prevention. With the warm weather approaching, more residents will be outside with their pets walking or hiking on trails and in parks. These activities could place county residents at a higher risk of exposure to wild and/or stray animals.
What is rabies?
Rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system. It can affect all mammals, including humans. It is usually transmitted to humans via the saliva of an infected animal. Rabies is a fatal disease once symptoms appear.
How is rabies spread?
Rabies is spread most often through the bite of a rabid animal. It can also be spread through a scratch from a rabid animal that breaks in the skin or through exposure of an open wound or mucous membrane (eye, nose, or mouth) to saliva from a rabid animal. In Montgomery County, rabies has been found in raccoons, bats, skunks, foxes, groundhogs, beavers, steer, cats, and dogs.
Is rabies a problem in Pennsylvania?
Rabies continues to be a significant public health problem in the Commonwealth. In the past 10 years, between 350 and 500 animals are annually confirmed in the laboratory to have rabies. In 2015, 45 percent of the animal rabies cases were raccoons, followed by cats (15 percent), bats (14.5 percent, skunks (11percent), and foxes (9 percent).
Human rabies in Pennsylvania is rare. The last diagnosed human case in the Commonwealth was in 1984.
All cats and dogs three months of age and older must be vaccinated against rabies. Pennsylvania State Law and the Montgomery County Public Health Code require this.
Vaccinating domestic animals is an important way to prevent rabies transmission from wildlife animal reservoirs to the human population.
Many Montgomery County residents are not vaccinating their cats or dogs.
When reviewing the animal bites reported to Montgomery County in 2015, 1,308 were animal-to-human, 192 were animal-to-animal, and an additional 261 were domestic animals with a wound of unknown origin that was presumed to be caused by a suspected rabid animal. Of the domestic animals involved in human biting incidents, 62 percent of cats and 41 percent of dogs were either unvaccinated or not up-to-date on their rabies vaccinations.
What should I do if an animal bites me?
The first step in rabies prevention is to immediately wash the wound with plenty of soap and warm water, and then promptly seek medical care. If the circumstances of the exposure warrant, human rabies vaccine may be prescribed. The vaccine is a series of four shots given in the arm (or thigh for small children) on days 0, 3, 7, and 14 after presentation to the health care provider. Rabies immune globulin is also given along with the vaccine on day zero. Rabies vaccine is highly effective in preventing the disease after an exposure, if given before any symptoms develop.
Animal rabies remains a problem. The number of animal rabies cases reported to the Montgomery County Health Department in the last 10 years are as follows:
YEAR ANIMAL RABIES CASES INVOLVING HUMAN OR DOMESTIC ANIMAL
2006 10 (7 raccoons; 2 cats; 1 bat)
2007 11 (4 bats; 3 skunks; 2 raccoons; 1 groundhog; 1 steer)
2008 21 (8 skunks; 6 raccoons; 5 bats; 2 cats)
2009 14 (10 raccoons; 2 skunks; 1 fox; 1 bat)
2010 10 (5 raccoons; 3 skunks; 1 bat; 1 cat)
2011 2 (2 raccoons)
2012 15 (9 bats; 3 raccoons; 2 skunks; 1 cat)
2013 7 (3 raccoons; 1 cat; 2 bats; 1 skunk)
2014 18 (8 raccoons; 4 bats; 3 cats; 2 skunks; 1 fox)
2015 8 (7 raccoons;1 bat)
2016 4 (2 raccoons; 1 cat; 1 bat)
Currently in 2017, Montgomery County animal rabies cases reported to date are as follows: each of the seven positive animal rabies cases in Montgomery County this year came from raccoons, in the following locations: North Wales Borough (1) , Whitemarsh Township (2), Limerick Township (1), Lower Merion Township (1), Lower Gwynedd Township (1), Springfield Township (1).
The recommended precautions to prevent animal bites and possible rabies risk are:
For more information about MCHD’s Rabies Control Program, please contact the Division of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention at (610) 278-5117.