[Jacob-list] Fwd: PRO/AH> Rabies, sheep - USA (Texas): alert

[Katherine Wisor]

This Just arrived , hope it's useful >  Katherine

Begin forwarded message:

> From: ProMED-mail <promed at promed.isid.harvard.edu>
> Date: August 6, 2004 10:00:15 PM EDT
> To: promed-ahead at promedmail.org
> Subject: PRO/AH> Rabies, sheep - USA (Texas): alert
> Reply-To: promed at promed.isid.harvard.edu
>
> RABIES, SHEEP - USA (TEXAS): ALERT
> **************************
> A ProMED-mail post
> <http://www.promedmail.org>
> ProMED-mail, a program of the
> International Society for Infectious Diseases
> <http://www.isid.org>
>
> Date: 6 Aug 2004
> From: ProMED-mail <promed at promedmail.org>
> Source: Fort Worth Star Telegram [edited]
> <http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/9335025.htm>
>
>
> Officials not taking any chances in sheep rabies case
> -----------------------------------------------
> The Texas Department of Health recommends that people whose families 
> might
> have been exposed to a rabid sheep at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center give 
> them
> a call, despite confusion about the test results.
>
> The health department lab in Austin has tested and retested a brain 
> sample
> from an infected sheep and each time gets positive results for rabies, 
> said
> James Wright, a veterinarian with the Zoonosis Control Division in 
> Arlington.
>
> A different brain sample from the sheep that was sent to the U.S. 
> Centers
> for Disease Control in Georgia tested negative, Wright said.
>
> "For some reason, we are getting this inconsistency," Wright said. "But
> when dealing with a disease the magnitude of rabies, we don't feel 
> that we
> have any choice but to proceed with our investigation and pursue the
> appropriate follow-up."
>
> A Barbados sheep named Cybill was euthanized 30 Jul 2004 after showing
> symptoms of a neurological disease. On Wednesday, Fossil Rim Wildlife
> Center was notified by state health officials that lab tests showed 
> that
> Cybill had rabies.
>
> The Children's Animal Center where Cybill lived at the popular wildlife
> facility has been quarantined and closed to the public for 90 days. 
> Fossil
> Rim is about 55 miles southwest of Fort Worth.
>
> "The people we are really concerned about are children who fed the 
> animal
> and got their hands sloppy wet, or, as some children do, kissed the 
> animal,
> or were licked in the face," Wright said.
>
> No people with symptoms have been found, Wright said.
>
> People at risk for rabies exposure are those who:
> - Visited the Children's Animal Center at Fossil Rim between July 10 
> and
> July 30.
> - Came in contact with a Barbados sheep named Cybill, who was woolly, 
> small
> and rusty brown with black lower legs and no horns.
> - Got Cybill's saliva in their eyes, mouth or into any open cuts or 
> wounds.
>
> Rabies symptoms include a short period of mental depression, 
> restlessness,
> headaches, fever, fatigue, nausea, sore throat or loss of appetite,
> according to the National Institutes of Health Web site.
>
> Visitors to the children's center at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center from 
> 10 to
> 30 Jul 2004 who may have been exposed to a rabid sheep are urged to 
> call
> the Texas Health Department's office in Arlington, (817) 264-4920. For
> information, go online to <http://www.tdh.state.tx.us/zoonosis>. For a
> photo of a Barbados sheep like Cybill, go to 
> <http://www.fossilrim.com>.
>
> [Byline: Mitch Mitchell]
>
> --
> ProMED-mail
> promed at promedmail.org
>
> [Although we don't often hear about sheep being diagnosed with rabies, 
> all
> mammals are susceptible to the disease. The vaccination to prevent the
> disease is certainly cheap insurance against a fatal disease. - Mod.TG]
> ....................mpp/tg/pg/mpp
>
>
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