Date: Sun 8 Feb 2009
Source: Periodico AM [in Spanish, trans. Mod.MPP, edited]
<http://www.am.com.mx/Nota.aspx?ID=248868&strPlaza=Leon&IDPlaza=1>
Rabies outbreak controlled
--------------------------
After the outbreak of rabies in cattle that occurred in the town of
Xichu, the [Guanajuato] State Ministry of Health implemented a
"sanitary fence" to prevent the spread of the virus.
The Ministry of Health denied that there has been spread of the virus
from the cattle to humans.
However it was recommended that the population treat animals that
died from rabies with extreme caution and they should not consume the
meat of these animals.
It was also pointed out that direct contact with the saliva from
infected animals can transmit the disease to humans so the public
should be careful and take the necessary precautions and hygienic measures.
In the state of Guanajuato almost 875 000 doses of rabies vaccine
were administered to dogs, 52 804 animals were killed, 9595 pets were
sterilized, and 6643 specimens from dogs were examined.
[Byline: Julio Cesar Salas]
--
Communicated by:
HealthMap Alerts via ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[While a "sanitary fence" is a term that is used in a number of
countries in Latin America, it usually refers to control measures
being implemented in a geographic areas surrounding where case(s)
have occurred. This moderator would like to point out that a virus
such as rabies can frequently use other animals such as wild animals
to pass the disease across such a "fence".
The newswire highlights that diseased animals should not be
consumed. While this is true for most veterinary diseases, it should
be highlighted here that rabies is one of the diseases that would be
high on the list for avoiding human consumption of infected animals.
Rabies can pass from bovines to people, but the animal must bite the
person or the person must have contact with saliva of the animal and
it must enter the human body, through a cut, scratch, the mucus
membranes of the eye, the nose, or the mouth. So it is not casual
contact that will infect the person. The bovines usually have a
distinctive bellow when they are infected with rabies. Although this
is not a diagnostic quality, it is unusual enough that many
veterinarians recognize it. - Mods.TG/MPP]
[The state of Guanajuato in central Mexico can be located on the
HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at
<http://healthmap.org/promed/en?g=1912308&v=24,-102.5,6>. - CopyEd.MJ
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