Latest Animal :
Recent Animals
Showing posts with label rabies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rabies. Show all posts

Dog and human communicable diseases - Rabies


The subject of dogs and diseases which are communicable by humans was touched up in the 1982 animated feature Plague Dogs, with the movie based on the novel of the same title by Richard Adams.

Given the fact that human contact with dogs is something which can be described as “commonly encountered”, the story was a huge success since it covered different aspects dogs are known to encounter, as the story’s plot is backdropped by a danger which all dog owners must be fully aware of and should be wary about – the possibility of a doggy disease being passed to dog owners.



The Zoonosis Case

With dog-and-human-infecting diseases described as zoonosis, the case of diseases or viruses found in dogs infecting humans has been well documented over the years, with most zoonosis cases described to be not really playing a major threat to the health and safety of human beings.

However, this doesn’t mean that all doggy diseases should be treated as minor threats, with some diseases actually doing significant harm to the overall health and wellness of human beings.

Here is one of (the most popular of) them:

Rabies – as a virus, rabies is known for infecting the central nervous system, typically introduced into human bodies through a dog bite. Though rare, “non bite” cases of rabies are also known to have infected human beings, through saliva or mucosal contact with rabies infected dogs.

When in humans, the virus is known to go through a set of stages, covering incubation, prodrome, acute neurologic period, coma and then, death.

It is quite serious as a condition, and should a person get bitten by an unknown dog, checks for rabies is important given the impact and effect the disease is known to have in human beings.

As dogs are found almost anywhere where humans are, the risk of acquiring doggy diseases is one which everyone should pay close attention to, since there are actual diseases which do affect dogs and human beings alike.







{[['']]}

Cats and Rabies

Rabies has long been associated with dogs, but in no way does this mean that cat’s aren’t free from them.

Though most currently reported rabies cases hail from encounters with wild animals like foxes, bats, skunks and raccoons, 7 percent of reported rabies cases still come from domestic environments, typically involving cats and/or dogs.

If your child or a child you know happens to get himself/herself bitten by a stray or unknown, rabid looking cat, caution is still the best course of action, apart from administering first aid.

Cat Bites – What to do

All warm blooded creatures are at risk of getting rabies, cats included.

Though fairly low in terms of rabies risk, cat bites should be given serious attention, given the fact that no cure for rabies has yet been found, with death being the often encountered outcome.

Properly cleaning a bite wound would be the first course of action, ensuring that no bacterial buildup or infections would rise from the wound. If “rabies suspicions” are strong, it’s advised to have the cat in question quarantined and observed, to help animal experts verify if the cat actually has rabies or not, then take decisive action.

In cases where quarantining the cat is not possible (most likely it go away), doctors, healthcare specialists and animal control agencies recommend administering rabies shots (typically a series of five) and immune globulin (HRIG) in ensuring the safety of the bite victim.

Unprovoked attacks are often linked with rabies bites, and getting a firm grasp of the cat bite situation would help assess the potentials and possibilities of a rabies presence. Provoked attacks, however, don’t necessarily translate as non-rabies threats.

Attacks after petting a cat or trying to pick it up may be considered as less rabies suspicious (since, obviously, the cat didn’t want to be bothered), but it’s not a 100% assurance that it is not a rabies case in the making.

Bottom line, just because rabies more common in dogs doesn’t mean cats don’t have them too.






{[['']]}
 
Copyright © Animals Library - All Rights Reserved
Proudly powered by Blogger