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July 16, 2001

“Fox Attacks Raise Rabies Questions”

Raleigh News and Observer (www.news-observer.com) (07/13/01);

Draper, Melissa

According to Lee Hunter, public health veterinarian for North Carolina’s state health and human services department, the reasons people do not get routine rabies shots like domestic pets, are two-fold.  First, the shots are expensive—a few hundred dollars in comparison to flu vaccines, for instance.  And second, the actual occurrence of a human contracting rabies from an animal is rare.  For those people in the veterinary, animal control and wildlife enforcement fields, however, use of the vaccine is routine.  The recent occurrences of rabid foxes attacking people in the Triangle and Wilson County areas have raised questions among many about the necessity of rabies shots as the risk of wild animal and human contact becomes more frequent during hot weather.  This type of meeting may become even more likely in any areas in which humans are destroying wildlife habitats to build housing.

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.