San Mateo County Health Department Public Health Reporting Guidelines

Animal Bites & Rabies

Why Report? Testing Animals for Rabies Report all animal bites Rabies is endemic in wildlife in San Mateo The Public Health Laboratory performs immediately to: County, and can affect domestic animals rabies testing on domestic or wild animals as well. Any bite that breaks the skin, and at risk for rabies, such as bats, skunks,  Peninsula Humane Society foxes, raccoons, and opossums. Animals any exposure of mucus membranes or & SPCA broken skin to saliva of potentially rabid like mice, rats, gophers, rabbits and animals, can cause human rabies. squirrels are unlikely to transmit rabies. As 12 Airport Boulevard testing involves examination of the brain Prophylaxis with Rabies Immune Globulin San Mateo, CA 94401 and Rabies Vaccine is effective at tissue, it’s necessary to euthanize the preventing this deadly disease. animal to perform rabies testing. Please (650) 348-7891 call Disease Control and Prevention at 573-  2346 to discuss whether testing is (650) 340-7022 Bats and Rabies indicated.

Bats are important reservoirs for rabies, Rabies testing is done at least weekly. and their bites are often imperceptible. Additional testing will be done on For questions on management of Therefore, if there is any contact with a bat recommendation of a public health animal bites, or if you suspect or if a bat is found in a room with children physician. Dead animals may be brought in rabies disease, call: or where people are sleeping, rabies between 8 am and 4 pm, Monday through prophylaxis should be considered. Call the Friday. Disease Control and DCP or the health officer on call to discuss Prevention specific cases. Non-owned Animals (650) 573-2346

The Peninsula Humane Society will attempt (650) 363-4981 for after-hours to catch stray animals that have bitten Dog Bite Facts humans and bring them to the lab for emergencies) Number of licensed dogs in testing. San Mateo County in 2004: Other useful numbers: 55,452 General Information on To obtain Rabies Vaccine, call Number of dog bites reported in Human Rabies 1-800-CHIRON or San Mateo County in 2004: 619 Incubation period is usually 3-8 weeks, 1-800-VACCINE rarely as short as 9 days or as long as 7 Fewer than half of these dogs For Rabies Immune Globulin (RIG), call had been vaccinated against years; depends on the severity of the wound, site of the wound in relation to the 1-800-VACCINE or rabies! richness of the nerve supply and its 1-800-243-4153 distance from the brain, amount and strain of virus introduced, protection provided by clothing and other factors. Prolonged Many more people are bitten by other incubation periods have occurred in Public Health Lab animals, wild or domestic. Because bites prepubertal individuals. 225 37th Avenue, Room 113 may spread rabies, health care providers must report all animal bites. San Mateo, CA 94403

(650) 573-2500 ... for questions about where and when to bring an animal for testing.

See next page for guidelines for determining whether rabies vaccine and RIG (Rabies Immune Globulin) are needed for a patient.

II.D.1. Animal Bites & Rabies Overview June 2009