Facts about Rabies
What Is Rabies?
Rabies is a disease
that affects the brain.
It’s Usually passed from
animal to animal but it
can be passed from animals to people. It’s
caused by a virus. A
virus is a very tiny
germ, and you can
only see that germ
if you have a special
microscope.
Any mammal can
get rabies. Do you remember what a mammal
is ? Mammals are warmblooded animals with fur.
We're mammals, and so
are most of our pets like
cats and dogs. Lots of
farm animals like cows
and horses are mammals,
and so are wild animals
like foxes and skunks.
We can all get rabies.
Even bats
can get
rabies!
In the
united
States,
raccoons,
skunks, foxes, and bats
are the main animals that
get rabies.
and vaccines are sometimes not available
there, so if someone is
bitten by an animal with
rabies, they might not be
able to get help right
away.
Rabies is a serious
disease. This year, over
55,000 people around
the world will die from
rabies. That's one person
every 10 minutes Half of
the people who die from
rabies are under the age
of 15.
Rabies is a big problem in Asia, Africa and
Latin America. Medicines
Special points of interest:
 What is Rabies
 How can I protect my
pets
 Real life story of a animal bite
 Warning signs of Rabies
 Who can get rabies?
Inside this issue:
Sean and the Raccoon 2
Can Bats give you RABIES?
Yes, a bat can give you rabies.
Bats are mammals—warmblooded animals with fur—so they
can get rabies. They only way they
can give YOU rabies is if you are
bitten by one.
Most bats don't have rabies but
you can’t tell just by looking. If you
see a bat, the best thing to do is to
leave it alone. Or if you wake up in
a room with a bat, tell your parents
or an adults.
Bats only come out when the sun
is down. If you see a bat that can’t
fly, or see a bat during the day,
there might be something wrong.
The bat maybe sick, and you should
be sure to stay away.
Even after being careful, if you
still get bitten, wash the bite
really well with soap and water. Tell
an adult and go right away to a
doctor. If an adult can safely catch
the bat, take it with you so the
doctors can send it to be tested to
see if it has rabies. If the bat
doesn't have rabies, then you are
all clear.
If no one can catch the bat, or
if the tests say the bat has rabies,
your doctor will give you a series of
shots to make sure YOU don't get
rabies.
Animal and Rabies
2
Myself and Rabies
2
My pet and Rabies
3
Test your Memory
3
Warning Signs
4
The Nervous Truth
4
Sean and the Raccoon
Wild animals
account for 9
out of 10
rabies cases in
the US and
raccoons make
up almost half
of those.
When Sean was
11 years old, he was
camping with his class
at the Okefenokee
National Wildlife
Refuge in Georgia.
While there, he was
bitten by a raccoon.
“ I was on a camping trip with my 5th
grade class. In the
middle of the night, I
felt a sharp pain in my
arm. I looked down and saw two bite marks
and some blood. I heard a rustle like something was going out of the tent and saw a
raccoon. I sat up and called for my teacher.
We cleaned out the bite with soap, hot water, and disinfectant.”
“ In the morning we went
to the hospital in Homerville,
Georgia. The pharmacist there
gave me 2 shots of immune
globulin, one near the bite and
the other one a little further
away, and a shot of rabies
vaccine. These shots help your
body make powerful antibodies
to help fight the rabies virus.”
“I had to wait one hour to
be sure I didn’t have an allergic reaction to anything. When
I got home, I had to get four
more shots spaced out during the next
month. Lots of people told me that I was
really lucky because ten years ago I would
have had to get 26 shots in the stomach if
someone thought I might have been bitten
by an animal with rabies.”
“ My advice? If you have the
shots, don’t tense up. Just relax because then it hurts a whole lot less.
And if you’re around wild animals,
don't mess with them. And don't
feed them because later they may
come back for more food. You never
know if a wild animal, even a cute
baby raccoon, may have rabies.”
Sean was lucky because today
we have a vaccine for rabies that
works and is pretty painless. Back
before we had a vaccine, if someone was
bitten by an animal that might have rabies,
there wasn't anything that could be done
except to clean the wound and wait to see
what happened. If they developed rabies,
they would die.
Animal and Rabies
What animals get rabies?
they can’t give it to you.
Rabies is a disease that naturally affects only mammals.
People are mammals, and so are
most of our pets like cats and
horses are mammals, and so
are wild animals like foxes,
skunks, raccoons and bats.
Birds snakes and fish are not
mammals, so they can’t get rabies and
In the United States
today about 93 of every
100 reported cases of
rabies are in wild animals.
Raccoons are the most
common wild animal with
rabies.
skunks, coyotes, bats, and foxes. It
would be really unusual if rats, mice,
squirrels, or groundhogs to get rabies, but it does happen.
Some other common wild
animals that may have rabies are
How do I keep myself from getting rabies?
Never touch unfamiliar or wild animals.
Avoid direct contact with stray animals. Stray cats
and dogs may not
have been vaccinated against rabies.
Never adopt wild animals or bring
Page 2
them into your home.
Don’t try to nurse sick wild
animals back to health. It’s
great that you want to rescue a
sick animal, but call an animal
control person or an animal rescue group so they can take care
of everything safely.
leave pet food out. You don’t want to
be attracting wild animals near your home.
Make sure your trash cans
are closed up tight and don’t
Facts about Rabies
How do I keep my pet from getting rabies?
The best way is to make sure
your pet gets its rabies shot. Then be
sure they
wear
their rabies tags
and an
identification tag
with your
name and
telephone
number
on their
collar.
You want to keep your dog way
from wildlife so he won’t
be bitten by an animal
with rabies. Always walk
your dog on a leash so he
or she can’t run loose.
Keep dogs in a fenced
yard if they’re not on a
leash.
Call animal control to
take wild or stray animals
away, especially if you
see one acting strangely.
booster vaccination.
That will help them
fight off the disease.
Get your pets
spayed or neutered.
They’ll be less likely
to leave home and become strays.
If an animal bites your pet, handle your pet carefully so you don't
get bitten. Take them to your Veterinarian so they can get a rabies
How do you know if an animal has rabies?
You can’t tell if an animal has rabies by just
looking at it. A clue
though is if the animal
is acting strangely.
Some animals may act
mad when they have
rabies. They will be
hostile and may try to bite you or other
animals. In movies animals with rabies
look like they are foaming at the mouth.
What’s really happening is that the
rabies makes them have more saliva
and that makes them drool.
Other animals may act timid or shy
when they have rabies. This is the most
common kind. A wild animal might move
slowly or act tame. You might be able
to easily get close to it. Since that’s
not the way wild animals usually act, you
should remember that something could
be wrong.
The only way doctors con know for sure
if an animal or a person has rabies is to
do laboratory tests.
The best thing to do is to never feed or
approach a wild animal. Be careful of
pets that you do not know. If you see a
stray dog or cat, don’t pet it. And if any
animal is acting strangely, call your local
animal control officer for help.
Test Your Memory
1.
What causes rabies?
3.
Rabies is spread by:
A) a worm
A) saliva
B) a virus
B) blood
C) a bacteria
C) tears
2. Which of these animals can get
rabies?
A) a frog
B) an alligator
C) a bat
4.
What should you do
if you are bitten by
an animal?
A) put a bandage
on the bite
B) wash out the
bite really well and
go to the doctor
C) take your temperature every hour
Answers:
1. b, 2.c, 3.a, 4.b
Page 3
Brownsville Animal
Regulation & Care Center
416 Fm 511
Olmito Tx. 78575
(956)544-7351
Call for more information
Warning Signs
Animals
If a wild animal is acting strangely, stay away from it. Some things to look for are:
General sickness
Problems swallowing
Lots of drool or saliva
An animal that appears more tame than you would expect
An animal that bites at everything
w.cdc.gov/
http://ww
ids/
rabiesandk
An animal that’s having trouble moving or may even be paralyzed
People
In people, it may take one month, two months or even three months to show signs of rabies. But once
people get rabies, they almost always die. That’s why it’s so important to go see a doctor right away if
you’ve been bitten by an animal that might have rabies.
Fever
Headache
Sore throat
Feeling tied
Pain and tingling at the place they were bitten
Seeing things that aren’t really there
A fear of water because of sudden, strong tightening of the muscles in the throat
Being paralyzed and unable to move pars of the body
The Rabies Virus
Rabies is caused by a virus. A virus is
a very tiny germ. You can only see
that germ if you have a special microscope.
Here’s
a picture of
the
rabies
virus:
What does a virus do?
Scientists have discovered more than
300 viruses in animals. Some won’t
hurt you. Others causes disease. The
common cold and measles are caused
by viruses. So are the flu, chickenpox
and AIDS.
How does a virus grow?
Viruses cannot eat food or grow on
their own, but they can make more of
themselves if they live inside the
cells of other organisms, called
“host”.
central nervous system is made up of
our brain and spinal cord and all the
other parts of our bodies that control everything we do from breathing
to walking.
The viruses attack
those host cells and
make more of themselves. Then the viruses
move on to other host
cells and do it all over
again.
When there’s a bite from an
animal with rabies the virus
attaches to a healthy nerve
cell. Then the virus multiplies, making a lot more viruses like itself. Thos viruses move on and attach to
other nerve cells until eventually they get to the brain.
There the virus can cause
the brain to swell, and the
person with rabies may go in to coma
and die.
How does the rabies
virus make someone
sick?
The rabies virus wants to make its
home in a nerve cell, the smallest part
of our central nervous system. The