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Subscribe to RSSThe case of a U.S. Army soldier who died in New York after likely contracting rabies from a dog bite in Afghanistan calls attention to the risk of rabies during travel or deployment to certain countries, and the importance of administering the rabies vaccine promptly to anyone who may have been exposed to the virus, according to a report of the soldier's death released today.
The 24-year-old soldier's death, which occurred in August 2011, was the first rabies death among U.S. service members since 1974, the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Unless the rabies vaccine is administered after exposure, an infection with rabies virus, which targets the nervous system, is nearly always fatal.
On Aug. 19, the solider was admitted to a New York emergency room with right arm and shoulder pain, nausea and vomiting. He tested positive for rabies. Although doctors administered an experimental treatment, the soldier died on Aug. 31.
The soldier had told family and friends that he'd been bitten by a feral dog in Afghanistan in January 2011, and had sought medical treatment, which he described as wound cleansing and injections. However, an Army investigation revealed no documentation of a reported bite wound or treatment, the CDC report said.
Twenty-nine people who were in close contact with the soldier, including health-care personnel, received the vaccine.
The case also highlights the need for the global elimination of rabies in dogs, the report said. Canine rabies is responsible for the majority of rabies deaths worldwide.
In the U.S., 45 cases of rabies were reported between 1996 and August 2011, and 10 of those cases were likely caused by dog bites. All 10 occurred overseas but were reported in the U.S., the report said.
People traveling should be aware of rabies risks, and should keep a safe distance from wild and feral animals, the report said. Travelers receiving bites or scratches from such animals should wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water, and promptly seek medical attention.
Human-to-human transmission of rabies has not been documented (with the exception of transmission through organ transplantation ), the report said, but is theoretically possible, because the virus can present in saliva and tears, along with cerebrospinal fluid and neural tissue.
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I love the way the next to last paragraph says that you should promptly seek medical attention if scratched or bitten by a wild or feral animal (what about pets that are stumbling around and foaming at the mouth?) while the 5th paragraph in the article says that the Soldier had sought medical treatment in January 2011. If that is the case then the Doctors that 1st treated the Soldier were either incompetent or negligent in their duties, unless rabies is one of those diseases that can be difficult to detect.? And the Army has no record of this incident? Something about this story doesn't smell quite right...
The animal carrying the rabies does not always have obvious symptoms. Without a history of a dog bite there is no way to tell a person has been exposed- until they become symptomatic, which is too late to treat.
The guy was bit a 8 months before dying? That doesn't sound right.
If you read the facts, rabies is one of the very rarest ways to die, probably much better odds of winning the lottery. Billions of people mingling with billions of dogs all over the planet with so few getting rabies. Let alone all the wild animal encounters that also don't lead to rabies. This really seems like a total non-issue.
Uncommon, but the incubation period for rabies can be up to a few years!
whoever wrote this misspelled soldier in i think the forth paragraph.
Soldier not solider, unless it is a word i don't know.
and this artical seems to be loose, i can't quite put it any other way.
Amazing start to an article, with a run on sentence and all.
I can see a movie about the next wave of terrorist attacks: rabid Islamists foaming at the mouth, biting crowds of people on the streets all over Middle East...
Seriously though... that is a very, very nasty way to go... my condolences to the family of this soldier.
I remember this because there was some talk on a dog-friendly FB page about trying to get a dog at an outpost home. someone posted that all outposts had had their feral dogs killed because a soldier had gotten rabies. I went looking for the death and found this guy. and I know that, despite being quarantined and given vacinations before they come back, one of the dogs sent back to the US died of rabies after its arrival here.
My sympathies to the soldier and his family. What a horrible way to go. I completely understand that the soldiers form attachments to these dogs. I wonder if there's any move to vaccinate them for everyone's safety. I imagine that for many of the service people killing the dogs must seem to be too difficult. If the dogs provide comfort, then there should be ways to assist the soldiers in keeping their companions.