cupcake
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Dog to Human Rabies Transmission Risk
Moved from General Baja Discussion:
https://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=99994&pa...
Quote: Originally posted by surabi  | For sure odd behaviors in dogs or biting for no apparent reason should be cause for vigilance as far a rabies is concerned, but if there are no
statistics for rabid dogs in Mexico, it's rather weird and disingenous for them to state that "Rabid dogs are commonly found in Mexico".
It just doesn't make sense that rabid dogs would be common in Mexico, yet the last known case of dog-human transfer was in 2006. You'd think if many
dogs had rabies, someone would have been bitten by one in the last 18 years.
[Edited on 5-16-2024 by surabi] |
The CDC can be expected to have data and statisitcs that might not be available to the general public via the internet. Also, their definition of
"commonly found" might be different than yours or someone else's.
I think it is very possible, even likely, that someone in Mexico has been bitten by a rabid dog in the last 18 years. The reason they did not die is
because their life was saved by post-exposure rabies vaccine.
Statistics on numbers of confirmed dog rabies in Mexico is not easy to come by. This linked article, published September 2021, is interesting. I
believe it shows the continuing importance of post-exposure treatment. Excerpt below link:
https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2021/09/yucatan-has-not-regi...
"He warned that there are many dogs that roam the streets throughout the State, not counting the animals that have “a semi-calf life”, whose
irresponsible owners do not bother to vaccinate them...He warned owners that a dog should be suspected of having rabies when it bites for no reason,
as well as when it shows changes in its habitual behavior, as well as not recognizing its master, and refusing to eat or hide...In Yucatán, a total
of 1,677 dog attacks have been registered as vaccinated against rabies this year, which shows an increase of 10.8 percent compared to the previous
year, when the sum was 1,514."
[Edited on 5-17-2024 by cupcake]
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surabi
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If the CDC had data and statistics on dog rabies in Mexico, why would it be a big secret? I suspect they don't have that data, which would rely on
Mexican data.
I did read that info about vaccines incorrectly, though. The way it is written, it sounds like there were all those cases of dog bites from rabies
vaccinated dogs, but I guess it means the humans received a rabies vaccine because the dog may have been rabid.
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surabi
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Unless you know the dog has been vaccinated against rabies, or the dog is tested to make sure it isn't infected, I sure wouldn't take a chance just
because the risk is "really low". Rabies is fatal and the symptoms before you die are horrific. And once you are infected, it's too late.
They used to treat humans who were bitten with a long needle shot in the abdomen, which was said to be quite painful, but now it's just a series of
shots in the arm.
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cupcake
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| Quote: Originally posted by surabi | If the CDC had data and statistics on dog rabies in Mexico, why would it be a big secret? I suspect they don't have that data, which would rely on
Mexican data.
I did read that info about vaccines incorrectly, though. The way it is written, it sounds like there were all those cases of dog bites from rabies
vaccinated dogs, but I guess it means the humans received a rabies vaccine because the dog may have been rabid. |
I am not sure you read it incorrectly. I do read it as meaning that 1,677 people in the Yucatan, in the year 2021, were vaccinated for rabies after
being bitten by dogs, but that seems like a high number to me. Something may have been lost in the translation, but in any event, I am not comfortable
using that statistic to make a point at this time. I want to be accurate and not get tripped up by incorrect data interpretation.
[Edited on 5-17-2024 by cupcake]
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AKgringo
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Regardless of the reporting requirements, or standards in place, I am sure that the results will vary wildly over the nation of Mexico.
If a rancher in a remote part of Baja puts down a rabid dog or coyote, I'm not sure that anyone outside his community would ever know it.
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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cupcake
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| Quote: Originally posted by surabi | Unless you know the dog has been vaccinated against rabies, or the dog is tested to make sure it isn't infected, I sure wouldn't take a chance just
because the risk is "really low". Rabies is fatal and the symptoms before you die are horrific. And once you are infected, it's too late.
They used to treat humans who were bitten with a long needle shot in the abdomen, which was said to be quite painful, but now it's just a series of
shots in the arm. |
In the case of dog bites, either make sure the dog is current with rabies vaccination, or observe the dog for 10 days. If the dog is still alive 10
days after the bite, then it could not have been infectious at the time of the bite. That in itself does not mean the dog didn´t have rabies at the
time of biting someone, but it does mean it was not able to pass the rabies virus to the bitten person at that time. The incubation period of the
rabies virus varies greatly from case to case. it can be as short as less than a week, or take months and even longer. However, the timeline of
becoming infectious and then dieing, does not vary, hence the 10 day quarantine or observation period for dogs that bite someone. As soon as the
rabies virus reaches the dog´s saliva, making it infectious, the dog will not live more than another 10 days. To give an example, a dog contracts
rabies from another dog or a wild animal, because the dog has not been nor will be vaccinated against rabies. This dog will die of rabies, sooner or
later. A month goes by and the dog bites a human, but the human is lucky because the rabies virus has not yet reached the dog´s saliva, so the human
recieves no rabies virus from the dog. Another month goes by and the rabies virus reaches the dog´s saliva. The dog will then invariably be dead
within ten days.
[Edited on 5-17-2024 by cupcake]
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cupcake
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| Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo | Regardless of the reporting requirements, or standards in place, I am sure that the results will vary wildly over the nation of Mexico.
If a rancher in a remote part of Baja puts down a rabid dog or coyote, I'm not sure that anyone outside his community would ever know it.
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I feel certain this is true. And, if a rural and or stray dog has rabies, it can die without anyone ever knowing about it.
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cupcake
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| Quote: Originally posted by JZ | Was riding dirt bikes in Sonora with my two boy. My youngest was about 10 and a dog ran out of no where and bit him.
The Mexican owner came down to the beach to apologize. I saw the dog and it was acting normal.
I was definitely freaked out and did a ton of research that night of what to do. At the end of the day everything pointed to the risk of getting
rabies as extremely low, so I just cleaned it really well using our first aid kit.
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I don´t want to be posting information that makes you or anyone feel bad. I have personally experienced the anguish a possible rabies exposure can
cause. All knowledgeble medical people will tell you that until symptoms appear, it is never too late to receive rabies vaccination.
The chance that your son was exposed to rabies is extremely low. If you wish, you can still consult a health care specialist who is knowledgeable
about rabies. Be aware that there are many health care workers who are clueless about rabies, in all countries.
[Edited on 5-17-2024 by cupcake]
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AKgringo
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| Quote: Originally posted by cupcake | | Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo | Regardless of the reporting requirements, or standards in place, I am sure that the results will vary wildly over the nation of Mexico.
If a rancher in a remote part of Baja puts down a rabid dog or coyote, I'm not sure that anyone outside his community would ever know it.
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I feel certain this is true. And, if a rural and or stray dog has rabies, it can die without anyone ever knowing about it. |
My point was more toward pointing out that the WHO designation was founded from a data base with a lot of holes in it.
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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cupcake
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| Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo | | Quote: Originally posted by cupcake | | Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo | Regardless of the reporting requirements, or standards in place, I am sure that the results will vary wildly over the nation of Mexico.
If a rancher in a remote part of Baja puts down a rabid dog or coyote, I'm not sure that anyone outside his community would ever know it.
|
I feel certain this is true. And, if a rural and or stray dog has rabies, it can die without anyone ever knowing about it. |
My point was more toward pointing out that the WHO designation was founded from a data base with a lot of holes in it. |
That is how I took your post, and I wholeheartedly agree with you.
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cupcake
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The link below leads to an article on recent rabies cases in Mexico. There is report of a rabid dog having had ´risky contact´ with a number of
people. The report of this case can also be found online in English, but I have linked the Spanish version because it gives the added information of
rabies confirmation for the dog and which rabies strain the dog contracted.
https://www.expomedhub.com/nota/sistemas-de-salud/como-prote...
¨Finalmente, en enero de 2023, se confirmó la presencia del virus rábico en un canino en el estado de Sonora, cuya caracterización antigénica
identificada es la variante V.7 asociada al zorro gris. Actualmente se está dando seguimiento a nueve personas que tuvieron contacto de riesgo con el
canino.¨
¨Finally, in January 2023, the presence of the rabies virus was confirmed in a canine in the state of Sonora, whose antigenic characterization
identified is the V.7 variant associated with the gray fox. Nine people who had risky contact with the canine are currently being followed up.¨
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cupcake
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I found a webpage that reports confirmed cases of rabid dogs in Mexico from 2007 to 2017. You can see the reduction over the years due to the
vaccination campaigns. Ver Dettale - linkout to see details for each case.
http://www.cenaprece.salud.gob.mx/programas/interior/zoonosi...
I have not yet found data that estimates how many rabid dogs there would be for every confirmed case. My expectations are that there would be many
that go unnoticed, many that do not make it to the statistics tabulations.
My reasoning for this is a comparison to the USA, where vaccination of dogs against rabies has been very successfully carried out for many years.
Reported rabies surveillance for the USA in the year 2021 found 36 cases of dog rabies.
https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/261/7/javm...
There appear to be more dogs as pets in the USA but more dogs as strays in Mexico. Both countries have many millions of dogs. Both countries have many
wild animal species which carry and transmit rabies. Mexico has the vampire bat, which is only just now starting to be seen as far north as the
southern tip of Texas.
My estimate is that the number of rabid dogs in Mexico would be at least similar to the number in the USA, for any recent year. I would not expect the
number of rabid dogs in Mexico, in a given year, to be appreciably less than the number in the USA for that same year. This is my estimation only for
the most recent years, during the time of maximum benefit of Mexico´s vaccination campaigns.
[Edited on 5-18-2024 by cupcake]
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surabi
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There aren't really accurate statistic for most diseases, be they dogs or humans. Because unless someone is ill enough to go to the doctor or
hospital, those cases don't get counted.
During the height of Covid, Mexican medical researchers estimated the number of Covid cases to be 4-5 times higher than official stats. Almost every
Mexican I know told me they'd had Covid, yet when I asked if they had gone to the doctor, or gotten tested, or reported it to the phone numbers that
were set up for reporting, they all said no.
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