Three Bitten By Rabid Dog In Essex

[flukespad]

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.

[celeste]

It's on the news just now, I used to be terrified of Rabis when I was wee

 

Poor wee pup, seems it was a rescue