Rabies and Postexposure Prophylaxis | CDC EID

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Volume 16, Number 3–March 2010
Dispatch
Terrestrial Rabies and Human Postexposure Prophylaxis, New York, USA
Millicent Eidson and Anissa K. Bingman
Author affiliations: University at Albany School of Public Health, Rensselaer, New York, USA (M. Eidson, A. Bingman); and New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York, USA (M. Eidson)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract
During 1993–2002, cats accounted for 2.7% of rabid terrestrial animals in New York but for one third of human exposure incidents and treatments. Nonbite exposures and animals of undetermined rabies status accounted for 54% and 56%, respectively, of persons receiving rabies treatments.
Rabies has an almost 100% case-fatality rate and requires considerable resources for control (1). In the United States, canine rabies is controlled with vaccination and control of dogs (2). Infection occurs primarily from bite wounds. In US cases diagnosed before death, patients died 6–43 days after clinical onset (3). Although <10 human cases have been diagnosed annually since 1990 (2) in the United States, potential exposure incidents and rabies postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) of humans are not rare. PEP is the treatment regimen for 1 person, with 2–5 vaccine injections and immune globulin, depending on prior vaccination history. PEP is unnecessary if an animal is not rabid at exposure.

A rabies outbreak in raccoons in the mid-Atlantic states in 1977 (4) reached New York state, which has many areas with land types favored by raccoons (5,6), in 1990. In this study, we identified terrestrial rabies trends statewide in New York, with an aim toward prioritizing control. Previous analyses have focused on only part of the state (7) or on a shorter time period (8).

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Suggested Citation for this Article
Eidson M, Bingman AK. Terrestrial rabies and human postexposure prophylaxis, New York, USA. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2010 Mar [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/16/3/527.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1603.090298