Thesis on "Rabies in the State of Florida"

Thesis 15 pages (4179 words) Sources: 20

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Rabies is a deadly viral infection that has a history of more than four thousand years. The disease is generally known to be transmitted through animal bite or scratch. The disease is mainly found in wild animals, primarily mammals. Almost all mammals can be subjected to be infected by rabies. Although rabies originates in wildlife species, it can however be transmitted to domestic animals and human beings by bite and scratch. This is commonly possible due to abundance of stray animals in areas of human settlements.

As far as Florida is concerned, raccoons have so far maintained a consistent record of carrying rabies. After raccoons, foxes and bats have the highest rate of carrying rabies. While after its initial discovery in Florida, the state government took significant measures and took control of the spread of the disease, rabies resurfaced again in the late twentieth century. After 2002, the spread of rabies rapidly increased in Florida. This was due to abundance of stray animals near urban settlements and an increasing trend of keeping raccoons as pets. Another major contributing factor was translocation of raccoons from others states by hunting clubs in Florida. The government again managed to control the disease to an extent after 2007. In the past decade, 2007 saw the peak of rabies increase.

Researchers have discovered that the increase in rabies have been positively correlated to epizootic and seasonal factors. The disease was seen more common in densely populated areas rather than mildly populated ones.

While no such cases have been reported in Florida, another contributing that emerged was a possibility of transmission of rabies due to organ transplantation. It is concluded that once symptoms occur, rabies cannot be cured as a disease. However, if prompt and effective preventive measures are taken, the disease can be prevented completely. These preventive measures include vaccination of animals against rabies, post exposure immunization for humans if bitten, abidance to animal law and disease control laws outlined by the government and consideration of neurological symptoms when considering brain dead patients as donors for organ transplantation.

Introduction

Rabies is a viral infection that originates in wild animals. This infection though can be transmitted from one animal to another or from an animal to human beings generally by the action of biting. The disease basically affects the nervous system of the animal or human being that had been bitten. Once infected, the symptoms of the disease occur due to the inflammation or swelling in the nervous system. The disease has a proven history of being a deadly one and the only cure to the disease is to get vaccinated for the rabies shots much before the symptoms occur. Mainly the animals that are known to have carried some form of rabies especially in the region of United States of America include dogs, bats, raccoons, and skunks, foxes, beavers, cats, cows and otters.

The government of the United States of America has taken various measures over a period of time in order to reduce the prevalence of rabies in the country. Recent reports have shown a significant decline in the number of reported cases of rabies among human over a period of time. This has been made possible by enforcing strict laws pertaining to Rabies control. The vaccination laws for domestic animals have been enforced much more strictly than ever before. Rabies control departments have also been set up in states across the United States of America in order to ensure that stray dogs and wild animals can be kept away from the general public. This is because stray animals are more likely to be carrying rabies germs as compared to the domestic animals as unlike domestic animals; they do not go through regular vaccinations and other rabies control measures.

While the origin of rabies dates back to over 4000 years ago, the disease was first discovered in the United States of America in the mid 1700s in the state of Virginia. It was later discovered in Boston and other North American towns as well. The disease started became much more widely spread in the United States of America in the late 1700s. Between the late eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century, major research was carried out on rabies by conducting experiments on animals. It was then when a German scientist discovered that the germs of the disease were transmitted through saliva through animal bite. During the same era, French chemist Louis Pasteur developed the first successful treatment of rabies. In the early 1950s the Center of Disease Control in the United States of America reported the first case of Rabies transmitted through bats.

As stated earlier, stray animals are more prone to rabies as compared to the domestic ones. However, rabies among humans and domestic animals is possible and is acquired due to bites of stray animals. The disease among human beings and domestic animals can be avoided by taking precautionary measures. Firstly, human beings should avoid contact with stray animals. Secondly, people who keep domestic pets must make sure that their animals are vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian as per the laws outlined by the government of United States of America. Over the years, advancement in researches has significantly helped in taking control over the disease. According to medical experts, if regular and timely vaccination of domestic animals is ensured, the risk of catching rabies can be reduced to a significant level.

Among animals, so far there has been no concrete scientific evidence based on which a person can tell whether an animal is rabid or not only by looking at it. For this reason, it is not advisable to get into contact or to feed stray animals. However, there are certain symptoms that are commonly noticed among rabid humans and animals. The major symptoms that occur among rabid animals include aggression, staggering or stumbling, biting for no reason, and hydrophobia (fear of water). Apart from that initial symptoms among human beings include ordinary symptoms such as occasional fever, headaches, vomiting and discomfort, anxiety, stress tension and drooling. It must however be noted that occurrence of these symptoms may not necessarily mean that a person or animal is rabid and therefore it can only be assured by getting the suspected person or animal tested against the disease by a certified doctor. This is because the above mentioned symptoms can also commonly occur as any other ordinary disease.

As far as treatment of the disease is considered, unfortunately, so far there could have been no breakthrough in finding out a cure for rabies once it has already occurred. Therefore the only possible method to avoid to getting the disease is sticking to a 'prevention is better than cure' strategy. If a human being is bitten by an animal, one should be immunized by getting vaccinated from human rabies immunoglobulin (HRIG). Surveys have proved that if timely vaccination is provided, patients of animal bite did not develop rabies. If left untreated, the disease leads to death and in general, it becomes inevitable once the symptoms start to occur.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the prevalence of rabies in the state of Florida. It evaluates to what degree the disease is present in the state, both among human beings and animals. It further evaluates the types of species in Florida, which commonly carry rabies.

Literature Review

As mentioned earlier, the history of rabies dates back to more than forty centuries ago while the disease was first discovered in the United States of America during the eighteenth century. Since then, scientists, academic researchers and medical experts have invested an immense amount of time and money in researching the disease.

Bigler, Mclean and Trevino (1973) carried out a research on raccoon rabies in Florida. They claim that rabies among raccoons in Florida, have been documented since 1953. According to Bigler, Mclean and Trevino (1973), 68% of all reported cases of rabies between the years 1969 and 1972, pertained to raccoons. This indicates that raccoons are one of the most highly rabies prone animals in the state of Florida. Bigler, Mclean and Trevino (1973) further claim, that during the time span of 1962 and 1972, out of 114 people that were bitten or scratched by rabid animals, 65% were reportedly bitten or scratched by raccoons. This is evidence that indicates that rabies is present among raccoons in the state of Florida more than any other animal. In their research, Bigler, Mclean and Trevino (1973) made two major revelations. One, they concluded that the intensity of spread of rabies among raccoons correlates to their breeding season. They concluded that during the breeding season the intensity of rabies spread increases much more than normal season. Secondly, Bigler, Mclean and Trevino (1973) also concluded that that the spread of rabies virus is also highly related to population density of the settlements. They claim that the disease was more rapidly widespread in areas with higher population density as compared to areas with lower population density.

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