Here’s what you need to know about rabies

Dr. Scott Weese isn’t worried when it comes to rabies.

Weese, an infectious disease veterinarian, remembers that he, his family and some visitors all had to get vaccinations after being exposed to a possibly rabid bat.

“It was a bit of a mess, but it shows a lot of things that we need to consider when it comes to who is actually exposed,” he said. The dose host Dr. Brian Goldman.

Human cases of rabies are extremely rare in Canada, but some people still come into contact with rabid animals. A Brantford, Ontario, child recently passed away after coming into contact with an infected bat, in the province’s first domestically acquired case of rabies since 1967.

Not only is it relatively easy to prevent exposure to the disease, experts say, but there are also effective treatments available for both people and animals who may have been exposed, including vaccines.

What is rabies and how does it spread?

Rabies is transmitted when the contaminated saliva of an infected mammal enters a new mammalian host through a bite, lick or scratch.

According to Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist, the virus travels through the victim’s peripheral nervous system. It eventually settles in the central nervous system.

“The first symptoms are non-specific fever, chills, sometimes headache, sometimes muscle aches and pains,” Bogoch said in conversation with The dose host Dr. Brian Goldman.

Without treatment, one of two conditions eventually develops: encephalitic rabies or paralytic rabies, which is less common.

“Basically, the final common path is unfortunately coma and death,” Bogoch said.

Another sign of a possible rabies infection is a condition known as hydrophobia. A person infected with rabies will experience muscle spasms in the throat and diaphragm when given fluids. Aerophobia, fear of drafts or clouds of air, is another sign.

Paralytic rabies is also called mute rabies and is a “flaccid paralysis that can travel down the body,” according to Bogoch.

People with paralytic rabies slowly lose the ability to move parts of their body, starting with the initially infected body part. If patients are left untreated, they fall into a coma and eventually die.

Rabies has an incredibly high mortality rate if left untreated, almost always leading to death.

According to Weese, animals show similar symptoms to humans, and the disease has the same incredibly high mortality rate of almost 100 percent.

How common is rabies?

While global rabies deaths range from 50,000 to 60,000 per yearCanadian figures are considerably lower.

Canada has been tracking human rabies cases since 1924 and only 28 people have died in six provinces at that time. The most recent death was the child from Brantford.

Weese says bats are the most common carriers of rabies in Canada.

LOOK | Ontario child dies of rabies after contact with bat:

Ontario child dies of rabies after contact with bat

A child from Brantford, Ontario, has died of rabies after contact with a bat in the province’s first domestically acquired case of human rabies since 1967. Health officials believe the child was exposed to the disease in the Temiskaming region, north from Sudbury.

“It’s a low percentage of bats [that carry rabies]but because there are so many bats and they can end up in human environments, that is a concern,” he said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency reports there are 95 bats tested positive for rabies in 2024 to date.

Skunks, foxes and raccoons are also species that are in the reservoir of rabies.

Smaller mammals, such as chipmunks and chipmunks, are less likely to spread rabies simply because they are less likely to survive an initial attack that would infect them in the first place.

“If a squirrel or mouse has an encounter with a rabid animal, the squirrel or mouse usually won’t make it out alive,” Weese says.

Cats and dogs can get rabies, and the World Health Organization estimates about 99 percent of human rabies cases worldwide are caused by dog ​​bites and scratches.

In Canada, however, rabies vaccines for dogs and cats make these animals less likely to spread the virus to people.

How do I protect myself from rabies?

Bogoch recommends contacting a medical professional in the event of an animal bite, even if the animal does not appear rabid.

He adds that people should seek post-exposure care after coming into contact with a potentially rabid animal, even if there is no evidence of a bite or scratch.

The family of the Brantford child who died did not immediately seek help because there was no physical evidence of exposure. according to the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit.

There are rabies vaccines available for people exposed to rabid animals, as well as rabies immunoglobulin, which contains antibodies that prevent rabies disease after exposure.

“If you seek help right away and get the right vaccination and immunoglobulin, it would be extremely unusual for someone to subsequently develop rabies,” says Bogoch.

LOOK | Quebec biologists drop ‘tasty’ raccoon rabies vaccines from a plane:

Quebec biologists drop ‘tasty’ raccoon rabies vaccines from a plane

Quebec’s Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks is trying to vaccinate raccoons against rabies by dropping tasty, medicated treats from low-flying planes.

Post-exposure treatment is most effective before the onset of symptoms. Rabies is almost always fatal after symptoms appear.

Both Bogoch and Weese describe rabies infections as highly preventable.

“To me, every case of rabies in North America is a public health failure,” Weese said.

“Not because public health was ruined, but because we didn’t have enough education worldwide.”

Be on the lookout for wild animals

One of the easiest ways to avoid catching rabies from an infected wild animal is to avoid them as much as possible.

“If you’re not within biting distance of an animal, it’s not going to bite you,” Weese said.

That means don’t feed raccoons, squirrels, or squirrels; keeping outdoor trash cans and food waste covered; as well as practicing responsible pet ownership by vaccinating cats and dogs.

“Ensuring that dogs are properly trained and properly supervised,” says Weese.

Pets can become infected with rabies if they encounter a rabid animal in the wild, and an infected pet can potentially infect its owners.

“Just because your cat is indoors doesn’t mean there isn’t a risk of rabies,” says Weese.

“You’d be surprised how many indoor cats we see… getting mixed up with wildlife because they’re sneaking out.”

Small children also need to learn how to behave around wild animals to avoid possible infections.

Weese says public health initiatives exist to vaccinate some wild animals — such as raccoons and foxes — against rabies in the first place.

There have been widespread efforts to drop oral vaccine bait from helicopters, Weese says, and to set up bait stations where raccoons feed.

“This isn’t easy and it isn’t cheap, but if we can eliminate a variant of rabies from a species like raccoons that live very close to us, it’s money well spent.”