Animal Rabies

Animal rabies is a reportable disease in Oklahoma. Rabies is a disease caused by the rabies virus. The rabies virus can affect the central nervous system of all warm-blooded mammals. Human rabies is very rare in the United States, but animal rabies, particularly in some wild animal species, is not uncommon. Rabies infections are almost always fatal once symptoms of the disease have begun.

Rabies virus is found only in the brain, spinal fluid, and saliva of infected animals. Transmission of the rabies virus can occur if any of these fluids or tissues from an infected animal enter the body through a bite, fresh opening of the skin that has not scabbed over, or mucous membrane (eyes, lining of the nose, or mouth). The following are not exposures to rabies: being scratched by the animal, contact with blood, urine, feces, dried saliva, petting or touching the hair of a rabid animal, touching bowls, lead ropes, gates, trailers, or other surfaces the rabid animal had contact with.

Take these important steps after any animal bite:

1. Wash all bite wounds immediately with soap and water, and continue washing for at least ten minutes.
2. Contact your health care provider as soon as possible. Animal bite wounds contain bacteria, so a tetanus booster and/or antibiotics may be needed.
3. If possible, safely catch or restrain the animal. Your local animal control or sheriff may be of assistance. Or, if the animal has an owner, get information about the animal's history of rabies vaccination and contact information about the owner.
4. Call the local county health department sanitarian to report animal bites. The sanitarian will help confirm the animal's condition and rabies vaccine status.
5. Call the Acute Disease Service Epidemiologist-on-Call (at 405-271-4060) for evaluation of the rabies risk and whether the rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) should be started. Usually the PEP is delayed until the animal can be adequately evaluated, which may take 10 days or longer.
   • If a rodent or rabbit caused the bite, these are very low risk and rabies post-exposure vaccination is usually not recommended
   • If the biting animal was a dog, cat, or ferret (not owned by the bite victim and not currently vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian), the animal should be quarantined with a licensed veterinarian for ten days.
   • Dogs, cats, and ferrets (not owned by the bite victim and currently vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian) may be allowed to be quarantined by the animal owner.
   • If the biting dog, cat or ferret dies or is euthanized during the ten day quarantine, it should be tested for rabies.
6. If the dog, cat, or ferret remains healthy after ten days, it was not infectious with rabies at the time the bite occurred.
7. If another species of animal caused the bite, the local county health
   department sanitarian should be contacted. Animals other than dogs, cats, or ferrets may need to be quarantined for 30 days under the care of a veterinarian, or euthanized and tested for rabies.

Submission and testing of animals for rabies

The Public Health Laboratory (PHL) at the Oklahoma State Health Department (OSDH) will test animals for rabies if people or other animals have been exposed.  “Exposed” could mean the following:

• The animal bit a person or another animal,
• Another animal is known or suspected to have bitten the animal in question, or
• Saliva from the animal has come in contact with a person or another animal’s broken skin or mucus membranes (a naturally moist part of the body such as eyes or mouth). 

The PHL performs rabies tests every day except Sunday and certain holidays.  If a specimen is received by 11:00 AM, the results will likely be available around 4:00 PM that same day. 

If you have questions about a potential exposure or the need for rabies testing, please contact the Acute Disease Service Epi-on-Call at (405) 271-4060 (24/7/365 availability for consultation). If the animal’s head is available for testing, the decision to take rabies post-exposure shots should always be postponed until the rabies test results are available.  It is definitely safe to wait the extra day or two for the test results before starting the rabies shots, if needed.

Guidelines for submitting animal heads to the OSDH PHL for rabies testing:

1. It is important to keep the head of the animal intact.   The rabies test is performed on the brain of the animal, so it is important that the animal’s brain remain intact until it arrives at the PHL.  Things to avoid:  crushing the animal’s skull, shooting the animal in the head, freezing the animal, leaving the animal at room temperature. 
2. The animal should be kept cold (NOT frozen) at all times.  An animal left at room temperature can decompose, which prevents rabies testing.  All efforts should be made to keep the animal cold by refrigeration, not freezing.  (If the animal was frozen prior to consulting this guidance, ensure that the animal remains frozen until it arrives at the PHL.)  If the animal is not kept cold from the time of death until it reaches the PHL, the brain of the animal may decompose which prevents the animal from being tested for rabies.
3. Animals measuring less than 12 inches (not including the tail) may be submitted whole.  If an animal is 12 inches or longer, send only the head.  A veterinarian should remove the head to be sure the brain stays intact
4. The animal must be taken to the OSDH PHL in Oklahoma City.  Options for safely transporting the animal include:    
   1. Using a courier service that can be arranged through your veterinarian.
   2. Personally delivering the animal to the OSDH PHL.  A security guard is stationed at the OSDH 24/7/365 and can accept animals for rabies testing.
5. You will need to complete a rabies submission form with your contact information and exposure details.  The guard will have this form, or you
   can print it from the OSDH website.

Rabies Fact Sheets and Information:
Rabies ACIP Provisional Recommendations for the Prevention of Human Rabies, July 10, 2009 (25k.pdf)
Rabies Vaccine Information Statement (155k.pdf)
Rabies Postexposure Prophylaxis Assessment Algorithm (147k.pdf)
Rabies Fact Sheet (49k.pdf)
  Rabies Hoja Informativa (48k.pdf)
Bats and Rabies (70k.pdf)

Rabies Healthcare Provider Resources:
Guidelines for Management of Animal Bite Incidents and Possible Rabies Exposure in Humans and Animals (791k.pdf)
Rabies Laboratory Submission Instructions (192k.pdf)
Zoonotic Disease Control Rules, Ch. 599 (37k.pdf)

Rabies Surveillance Data and Statistics:

Current Year
Oklahoma Counties With Laboratory-Confirmed Animal Rabies Cases - 2012 (71k.pdf)
Map of Rabies Cases by County - 2012 (272k.pdf)
Number of Animal Rabies Cases by Month of Diagnosis, 2008-2012 (61k.pdf)

Previous Years
Rabies 2010 Surveillance Summary (110k.pdf)
Confirmed Cases of Rabies by Year 1980-2008 (11k.pdf)
Oklahoma Counties With Laboratory-Confirmed Animal Rabies Cases: 2000-2009 (1004k.pdf)
Confirmed Cases of Rabies by Species 1992-2008 (86k.pdf)
Oklahoma Counties With Laboratory-Confirmed Animal Rabies Cases - 2010 (32k.pdf)
Map of Rabies Cases by County - 2010 (30k.pdf)
Number of Animal Rabies Cases by Month of Diagnosis, 2007-2010 (16k.pdf)

External Rabies Resources:
CDC Rabies Prevention and Control Compendium 2008 (116k.pdf)
Human Rabies Prevention --- United States, 2008: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices (758k.pdf)