Vicki
Administrator
Rabies next door could easily visit your house as well
April 24, 10:25 AM
Houston Health News Examiner Gus Kilthau
Rabies affects humans as severely as it affects wild and domesticated animals. Rabies is preventable but, once its symptoms show up, rabies is virtually always fatal. It is usually transmitted by the bite of an infected animal, but that is not the only means of transmission. The rabies virus can enter the body from the saliva of an infected animal through open wounds and scratches or through mucous membranes of the mouth, eyes, or nose.
Gonzales, Texas is between Houston and San Antonio, a several hour ride on the Interstate from Houston, but in terms of rabies one should consider that Gonzales is right at the Houston city line. What happened in a parking lot in Gonzales could just as easily happen right here in Houston – and it does happen in Houston far more often than anyone would like.
From the April 23, 2010 urgent news release of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) we learn that someone who could have been from anywhere, including Houston, dropped off four mixed breed pit bull puppies in the parking lot of South Texas Trailer Sales in Gonzales. The four dogs were taken to the “Friends of Gonzales Animal Shelter where it was found that one of the puppies was rabid. It was euthanized. The other three dogs are being kept in isolation at this time.
DSHS and local officials are trying to locate anyone who may have come in contact with those puppies. They should immediately contact DSHS at 210-949-2121. Here in Houston, if your neighbor recently kept four mixed breed pit bull puppies and now has four fewer puppies, you should do your neighbor and everyone else a big favor and call that number so as to tell DSHS about it.
Gonzales, Texas is way too close for comfort – and for rabies.
http://www.examiner.com/x-45804-Hou...xt-door-could-easily-visit-your-house-as-well
April 24, 10:25 AM
Houston Health News Examiner Gus Kilthau
Rabies affects humans as severely as it affects wild and domesticated animals. Rabies is preventable but, once its symptoms show up, rabies is virtually always fatal. It is usually transmitted by the bite of an infected animal, but that is not the only means of transmission. The rabies virus can enter the body from the saliva of an infected animal through open wounds and scratches or through mucous membranes of the mouth, eyes, or nose.
Gonzales, Texas is between Houston and San Antonio, a several hour ride on the Interstate from Houston, but in terms of rabies one should consider that Gonzales is right at the Houston city line. What happened in a parking lot in Gonzales could just as easily happen right here in Houston – and it does happen in Houston far more often than anyone would like.
From the April 23, 2010 urgent news release of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) we learn that someone who could have been from anywhere, including Houston, dropped off four mixed breed pit bull puppies in the parking lot of South Texas Trailer Sales in Gonzales. The four dogs were taken to the “Friends of Gonzales Animal Shelter where it was found that one of the puppies was rabid. It was euthanized. The other three dogs are being kept in isolation at this time.
DSHS and local officials are trying to locate anyone who may have come in contact with those puppies. They should immediately contact DSHS at 210-949-2121. Here in Houston, if your neighbor recently kept four mixed breed pit bull puppies and now has four fewer puppies, you should do your neighbor and everyone else a big favor and call that number so as to tell DSHS about it.
Gonzales, Texas is way too close for comfort – and for rabies.
http://www.examiner.com/x-45804-Hou...xt-door-could-easily-visit-your-house-as-well