Deadly rabies detected in pet cat By Monisha Martins Jun 06 2007
A Maple Ridge animal hospital
has detected the first case of rabies in a domestic animal in B.C.
since the 1960s. Rabies was confirmed Tuesday following tests on samples of the
cat's brain.
For general information on how to avoid
rabies, please click on on the following link:
http://www.bcvma.org/temp/20076844376/CDC_re_Rabies_May2007.pdf
Dr. Michael Orser, one of three veterinarians at Alouette Animal
Hospital who handled the male cat, said the animal came in Thursday
with a paralyzed front leg.
"It was generally acting quiet strange, quite aggressive and unable
to stand," he said.
Rabies is a viral disease that attacks the central nervous system
of warm-blooded animals, including humans. Once symptoms appear, rabies is almost always fatal. Orser said the infected cat kept falling and flopping over, but
was not foaming at the mouth. "It was attacking a towel in its
cage. We had to sedate it every time we had to get near it," he
said. The cat's condition worsened overnight and vets euthanized
the animal Friday. None of the vets at Maple Ridge hospital had seen a case of rabies
before. "If anything could fit, this one could," Orser said. The
Canadian Food Inspection Agency was contacted by the hospital since
vets feared one of the owners may have been bitten by the
aggressive sick pet cat.
"We were all surprised it came back positive," Orser said. Orser is
glad the hospital picked up on the symptoms soon. "When a
human actually starts to show symptoms of rabies, there has
actually never been a reported case of survival. They all
die," he said. Although tests have not confirmed the
source of rabies, vets believe the cat contracted it from a bat
since they are primary carriers of the disease in B.C. The
detection and impeding risk to humans has the Fraser Health
Authority intervening. So far, the health authority has identified
15 people who have come in contact with the rabid cat.
Seven staff at the animal hospital, including the vets, have to
receive a series of anti-body injections to combat and protect
against the virus. Another eight people, including the cat's
owners, whose identity is being protected for privacy, are also
being vaccinated.
"We are being very cautious in making sure we are inclusive rather
than exclusive," said Dr. Larry Gustafson, a medical health
officer. "The
message isn't to be worried but to have your pets
vaccinated." In B.C., rabies hasn't surfaced in
other animal populations.
In 2004, skunks in Stanley Park in Vancouver were infected with a
bat-type of rabies. In 1992, cats were Delta tested positive for
the virus. In the late 1980s, a beaver contracted the virus and in
1984, a horse. In 1969, rabies was detected in a cat on Vancouver
Island.
"It is extremely rare," Gustafson said. There is no test for rabies
in live animals. "We basically have to rely on quarantines to evaluate the animals,"
said Blaine Thompson, a veterinary program specialist with the
CFIA. The CFIA is handling all animals which may have come in
contact with the infected cat. Thompson said as a precaution,
another cat owned by the family was euthanized and two pet dogs may
be quarantined for up to six months on the family's rural Maple
Ridge property. In animals, the incubation
period for rabies (from initial exposure to clinical symptoms) may
range from two weeks to many months.
Thompson said a vet is checking if horses on a neighboring farm may
have come in contact with the infected cat. The two most recent
human cases of rabies in B.C. residents – both linked to a bat
strain of the virus - were in 2003 and 1985. Both were
fatal.
On average, over 300 people a year in B.C. receive a vaccine for
suspected exposure to the rabies virus. Owners with pets that
display symptoms of the disease must contact a vet
immediately. SYMPTOMS:
Rabid animals may become aggressive, combative, and highly
sensitive to touch and other kinds of stimulation. They can be
vicious. This is the "furious" form of rabies, the kind
traditionally associated with mad dogs.
There is also a "dumb" form of the disease in which the animal is
lethargic, weak in one or more limbs, and unable to raise its head
or make sounds because its throat and neck muscles are paralyzed.
In both kinds of animal rabies, death occurs a few days after
symptoms appear, usually from respiratory failure.
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency
