Rabies outbreak

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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The country is currently suffering from a rabies outbreak with 3 people dead over the past few months and a child gravely ill. Salud Publica are currently touring the country vaccinating all dogs who do not have the rabies vaccine free of charge. They use one needle for all the dogs, and many die following the vaccination. If you have non rabies vaccinated dogs I suggest you get them vaccinated by your vet asap, or buy the vaccine at an agrovet and do it yourself, as you have no choice if Salud Publica turn up at your home and your dog has not been vaccinated.

https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/12...a-es-el-mayor-registrado-en-la-ultima-decada/

Matilda
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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Anyone know what the indigenous vectors (diseased carrier animals) are? Dogs are a given. At home, its raccoons, bats, foxes, some rodents etc.

In this country with very few vector opportunities, I am wondering how rabies is being spread to the dogs that subsequently bite and infect people.
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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According to Dr Julio Hazim, there has been an outbreak of rabbies in a few border towns in Haiti, but Dominican organizations that deal with stray dogs and public health are forbidden to mention that. He claims that some of it was most likely introduced by dogs that stray from one part of the island to the other.

Dr Jiminian, another prominent Dominican doctor, made a public announcement about the dogs with rabbies roaming around. He insist that anyone with a dog that doesn’t vaccinates them is completely irresponsible, because the Dominican government offers those vaccines free of charge.

If biten by a dog, you should immediately get vaccinated for Rabbies (if you haven’t already). These vaccines are also free of charge in many public hospitals.

Let me see if I can find the interview of Dr Jiminian. I think I saw it a few days ago.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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Anyone know what the indigenous vectors (diseased carrier animals) are? Dogs are a given. At home, its raccoons, bats, foxes, some rodents etc.

this cute little fellow:

332w0hc.jpg


juron or huron, i have seen both versions of the word. often also called mangosta. kind of a wild ferret. normally very shy. i see them often but normally they never come very close to humans or domestic animals. although, of course, rabies change animal's behavioural patterns.
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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Here is Dr Jiminian.

[video=youtube;DEv9JbMTpgg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEv9JbMTpgg[/video]
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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i was bitten by a street dog back in march/april. i went to a private clinic where they cleaned the wound and administered tetanus shot. but they did not have rabies vaccinations. they sent me to centro sanitario, which was closed (saturday morning). by monday i tracked down the dog and turned out it was a female who recently gave birth, protecting her young. i saw her few times later on and it was clear she was not rabid. but this event showed the weakness of the vaccine administration system: it should be available in all clinics, 24/7. a bite to an extremity can possibly wait a day or two but a bite to the face/head/neck/spine would require immediate vaccination.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
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My dogs caught on of those (j)Hurons ....

nailed it coming out of the bedroom....it never had a chance.

My people were sure it would get away -- they're fast !!

Nope, the team surrounded it.
A full post mortem followed - checking teeth size etc - very few people get to examine these little guys
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
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The country is currently suffering from a rabies outbreak with 3 people dead over the past few months and a child gravely ill. Salud Publica are currently touring the country vaccinating all dogs who do not have the rabies vaccine free of charge. They use one needle for all the dogs, and many die following the vaccination. If you have non rabies vaccinated dogs I suggest you get them vaccinated by your vet asap, or buy the vaccine at an agrovet and do it yourself, as you have no choice if Salud Publica turn up at your home and your dog has not been vaccinated.

https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/12...a-es-el-mayor-registrado-en-la-ultima-decada/

Matilda

I dont know if i happen to ba specific case, but salud publica, a ) wont go near my dogs, and b) actually give us vaccine + syringe and needle, 1 for each dog, free of charge.
They also seem to have a big supply of syringes and needles.
My only complaint is that the needles are very flimsy, and cant pierce the skin on 2 of my dogs :(

As for where the infected dogs/animals come from.....lol, very convinient.......
I have only witnessed once, in 10 years, a round up of stray dogs, for vaccination. I would also say there are at least as many stray ( border line feral ) dogs in my campo, than domestic ones.
If the dr was real serious about this " problem ", why dont they go the ORV ( food pellets with oral vaccine ) route. It was done, with success in switzerland, to wipe out rabies in red foxes.

I posted a story a while back about a dog bite, rabies and salud publica. And their reaction actually surprised me.
I think the consensus is, world wide, that an animal with rabies is flagrant enough ( as in, you are attacked by a rabid animal ), so the real risk is being bitten by a dog ( or another animal ) that is contaminated but hasnt develloped the illness yet, but the window is quite small ( between the dog being infected and it develloping rabies ).
They actually turned up at my house to collect/capture the dog that bit me ( a big misunderstanding, as it was my dog ), and their protocol was , 1) observe the dog, 2) if in doubt, cut its head off and send to SD for testing ( not kidding ), 3) only then, if dog was rabid, would you then be vaccinated.
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
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My dogs caught on of those (j)Hurons ....

nailed it coming out of the bedroom....it never had a chance.

My people were sure it would get away -- they're fast !!

Nope, the team surrounded it.
A full post mortem followed - checking teeth size etc - very few people get to examine these little guys

I have a nice picture collection of dead hurons ( and a bunch of other stuff :(..... tarantulas, snakes, mice, chickens, birds, you name, they kill it )........ my dogs ambush them......
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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if in doubt, cut its head off and send to SD for testing ( not kidding )

yeah, this is the norm, in europe as well. the test is done using brain tissue and it's much easier to preserve the head alone rather than the whole animal. you can conveniently pop it in the fridge, for example. clearly the effort of chopping the head off in the first place is not taken into the account.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
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It used to be.... back before recorded time when I was young....
that the human therapy for rabies was 15 needles daily...
Deep into the stomach area

Foxes in Canada were the culprits in addition to dogs... foaming mouths

Raccoons get Feline Rabies... no danger to humans - less maybe
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
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yeah, this is the norm, in europe as well. the test is done using brain tissue and it's much easier to preserve the head alone rather than the whole animal. you can conveniently pop it in the fridge, for example. clearly the effort of chopping the head off in the first place is not taken into the account.

Her : My Dear please take the pork chops out of the fridge...
Him : I cant find them, honey !
Her : Right next to the dog's head !!

:eek:
 

Auryn

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2012
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This is not surprising at all, considering the amount of viralatas in the country. If the vaccine is actually free (I pay $100CDN every three years per dog), then irresponsible dog ownership is the true culprit. Actually it's a wonder rabies is not more prevalent based on neglected dog populations alone. All parts of the country has this problem.
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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This is not surprising at all, considering the amount of viralatas in the country. If the vaccine is actually free (I pay $100CDN every three years per dog), then irresponsible dog ownership is the true culprit. Actually it's a wonder rabies is not more prevalent based on neglected dog populations alone. All parts of the country has this problem.

actually, it is a little more than irresponsible dog ownership, given the reality that maybe half the dogs have no owners..
 

Auryn

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2012
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actually, it is a little more than irresponsible dog ownership, given the reality that maybe half the dogs have no owners..

Well, it would at least be the original culprit, since there wouldn't be so many viralatas if the original owners were responsible. It's a generational, cultural problem. But kudos to those who rescue, vaccinate, and care for their animals properly.

I believe the article states that 255 people have been bitten by warm blooded animals, not necessarily rabid warm blooded animals. If 255 people in Pedernales alone were bitten by rabid animals, I would hope there would be some serious action? My Spanish needs practice so I may have read it wrong.

Someone posted a question about the rabies vaccine not long ago. I know that the preventative rabies vaccine in Canada would have costed me $600CDN for the three doses in the series. It is recommended for the DR, but I opted out because all of the dogs I came into contact with at the rescue had been vaccinated and cleared for travel to Canada.

I wonder if the reason for the lack of post-exposure vaccine is due to cost?