Three people bitten by rabid dog

[busybeeburns]

The UK is still classed as 'free from rabies'

 

Three people are being treated for exposure to rabies after being bitten by an infected puppy which was in quarantine.

 

The puppy had been brought to the UK from Sri Lanka, said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The people bitten were at the centre, thought to be in the Chingford area of Essex, and are being vaccinated.

 

The dog died whilst in quarantine, and this contained any public health risk, the Health Protection Agency said. The dog had been held at the centre since 18 April, and died on Friday. Other animals that may have come into contact with the puppy were being checked, Defra said.

 

But it stressed that the likelihood of further infections was "highly unlikely" and the UK remained "free of rabies" because the case had occurred in quarantine.

 

'System working'

 

Acting Chief Veterinary Officer Alick Simmons said: "While initial tests show that this puppy has tested positive for rabies, this shows that the system is working and the case has been picked up while the animal is in quarantine. "We are now tracing animals that have moved from the kennels to ensure that all animals that have come into contact with the puppy are monitored."

 

The location of the quarantine premises has been given by officials only as the South East, but Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith said he had been told it was in his Chingford and Woodford Green constituency in Essex. He said he had received a call on Friday evening from environment minister Lord Rooker. He said: "Naturally, I am very concerned about the welfare of the staff who have been affected. I was assured by the minister that the situation is under control."

 

Shadow environment secretary Peter Ainsworth said it was "concerning" that rabies had returned to the UK, but said it appeared the quarantine system had worked. He called for "swift action" to ensure the disease did not spread to the wider environment.

 

No treatment

 

Rabies is a viral disease which affects the central nervous system. Once symptoms appear it is almost always fatal, but patients can be treated with antibodies and a vaccination to fight the virus after being bitten. Rabies was eliminated from the animal population in the UK in the early 20th century, but it continues to infect a variety of animals in other parts of the world.

 

The World Health Organisation estimates the annual global death toll from the disease to be between 40,000 and 70,000, with the majority of cases occurring in south and south-east Asia.

 

Twenty cases of rabies have been reported in England and Wales since 1946, which were all imported. A licensed bat handler died in Scotland from a rabies-like infection caught from a bat in 2002. Initial symptoms of the disease include anxiety, headaches and fever, with the effects of encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) intensifying later. The patient may also suffer spasms of the swallowing muscles, making drinking difficult or impossible.

 

Death from respiratory paralysis is almost inevitable once the symptoms have appeared.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7368383.stm

[Jenjie]

Social worker bitten by rabid dog

 

A social worker, who runs a charity that brings street dogs from Sri Lanka into the UK, was one of three people bitten by a puppy infected with rabies.

 

 

Kim Cooling was "nipped" on the chin, wrist and face by the dog, which died two days later in quarantine.

 

The puppy was one of five brought by the charity to quarantine kennels in Chingford, north-east London.

 

The other four dogs have since been put down, and tests are being carried out to determine if they had rabies.

 

All the people bitten by the puppy have now been vaccinated by doctors.

 

Because the dog died in quarantine, any public health risk was contained, the Health Protection Agency said.

 

Animals being checked

 

The five puppies had been held at the centre since 17 April.

 

Mrs Cooling, from the London-based Animal SOS Sri Lanka charity, said the dog that died had been vaccinated before leaving Sri Lanka.

 

She had been with the dog at the quarantine kennels on Wednesday when she was bitten.

 

"She just snapped at me and she was snapping at the other pups. She was not her usual sweet self," she said.

 

Other animals that may have come into contact with the puppy were being checked, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

 

But it stressed that further infections were "highly unlikely" and the UK remained "free of rabies" because the case had occurred in quarantine.

 

'System working'

 

Acting Chief Veterinary Officer Alick Simmons said: "While initial tests show that this puppy has tested positive for rabies, this shows that the system is working and the case has been picked up while the animal is in quarantine.

 

 

"We are now tracing animals that have moved from the kennels to ensure that all animals that have come into contact with the puppy are monitored."

 

Jeremy Robinson, general manager of the quarantine kennels, said there had been immediate concerns about the health of the eight-week-old puppies and they had been placed in an isolated area away from other dogs and cats.

 

"I am confident that no other animals can have been infected," he said.

 

Effective treatment

 

Rabies is a viral disease which affects the central nervous system. Once symptoms appear it is almost always fatal, but patients can be treated with antibodies and a vaccination to fight the virus after being bitten.

 

Professor Hugh Pennington, an expert in bacteriology at Aberdeen University, told the BBC the treatment for rabies had a high success rate.

 

"Basically it starts with washing the wound out with soap and water, which is highly effective at killing the virus," he said.

 

"Then the wound itself is infiltrated with anti-serum and finally there's the immunisation set-up where people are given injections over several days to build up their immunity.

 

"The virus often takes a long, long time to do anything and all these processes stop it dead in its tracks."

 

Rabies was eliminated from the animal population in the UK in the early 20th Century, but it continues to infect a variety of animals in other parts of the world.

 

Twenty cases of rabies have been reported in England and Wales since 1946, which were all imported.

 

A licensed bat handler died in Scotland from a rare form of rabies caught from a bat in 2002.

 

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7368808.stm

[Jenjie]

Sooooo with all the abandoned & mis-treated dogs in the UK, why would we bring more in? :confused: