Did you know that state law requires three people to report animal bites? The bite victim or guardian, the biting animal’s owner and medical personnel who see the victim as a patient are each obligated by state law to report any animal bite to the local health director by calling the animal control agency in the jurisdiction where the bite occurs.
The transmission of rabies is simple. A mammal that is infected with rabies virus and therefore able to transmit the virus by way of its saliva, bites or scratches another mammal, so that the skin is broken and the virus is able to enter the body. The virus, once introduced, may/can survive and replicate in the body of the victim, depending on many factors. Established public health rabies protocols dictate assurance that the human bite victim will not contract rabies. It is critical that the victim/guardian, biting animal’s owner and medical personnel report the bite to animal control to protect the bite victim.
Animal Control’s responsibility is to complete a standardized bite report and supervise the confinement and observation of the bite dog for ten days. The way the bite happened and the severity of the bite or bites are important. The purpose of the confinement is to observe the biting animal to see if it develops symptoms of rabies. If the confined animal were to develop symptoms common to rabies, it would be tested for rabies. The bite victim would be seen by a physician who will follow protocol with regard to post exposure treatment recommendation. If the biting animal is unidentified, disappeared or otherwise not captured for confinement and observation, the bite victim is advised by the animal control officer and then contacted by a communicable disease nurse from the health department.
If the biting animal’s owner can show proof of a current valid rabies vaccination, and the owner is able to confine the dog at home in a secure enclosure in cooperation with Animal Control’s need to view the animal during the 10 day confinement period, then it is possible that may be confined on the owner’s premises. Otherwise the biting animal is confined at the animal control shelter or at a veterinarian’s kennel approved by the health director.
