Young children are especially vulnerable to animal bites and should be properly protected. Rabies is a viral infection of the nervous system that may affect almost any warm-blooded animal. In Los Angeles County, this disease is commonly present in bats. About 10 percent of the bats tested by the health department have rabies. The last rabid skunk in Los Angeles County was detected in 1979. The last domestic animal with rabies was a cat which came from Mexico in 1987.
Man is usually exposed to rabies by direct contact (bites) with rabid wildlife or by contact with dogs or cats which have acquired the infection from rabid wildlife.
Although rabies is almost always fatal, vaccination is highly effective in preventing it. Control of rabies depends on public awareness of the signs and hazards of the disease, stringent enforcement of animal control regulations, and upon immunization of dogs and cats.
When a known rabid animal bites a dog or a cat..... Unvaccinated dogs and cats bitten by a known rabid animal should be destroyed immediately. If the owner is unwilling have this done, the animal should be vaccinated and placed in strict isolation for 180 days. If the dog or cat has been vaccinated within one year, it should be revaccinated immediately, confined for 30 days and then restrained (leashing and confinement) for an additional 90 days.
When a dog or cat bites a person..... Unvaccinated and vaccinated dogs and cats that bite a person, must be quarantined for 10 days. If the dog or cat was infective at the time of the bite, sign of rabies in the animal will usually follow rather quickly and certainly within 10 days.
When a wild animal is involved in an attack on a person..... The animal should be euthanized immediately and the head should be submitted to the Public Health Laboratory for rabies testing.
When a person has been exposed to a rabid animal..... The person should contact their physician and explain the situation. If the physician feels that the person is at risk of contracting rabies, he/she will begin anti-rabies treatments on the person.
These treatments consist of the Human Anti-Rabies Immunglobulin or HRIG (dosage depends on weight) given on day 0 and Rabies Vaccine Adsorbed or RVA given on day 0, 3, 7, 14, and 28. The rabies vaccine and anti-serum in current use have excellent safety records. Since the chances of developing the disease are much greater than the chances of adverse reaction to the vaccine, anti-rabies treatment should be administered in all cases of known or uncertain exposure.
Management of Animals that Bite People
A healthy dog, cat, or ferret that bites a person should be confined and observed for 10 days; it is recommended that rabies vaccine not be administered during the observation period. Such animals should be evaluated by a Public Health Veterinarian at the first sign of illness during confinement. Any illness in the animal should be reported immediately to the local health department (323-730-3723). If signs suggestive of rabies develop, the animal should be euthanized, its head removed, and the head shipped under refrigeration (not frozen) for examination of the brain by the Public Health Laboratory. Seriously injured or sick dogs, cats, or ferrets that bite a person may be euthanized immediately and the head submitted as described above for rabies examination. Other biting animals which might have exposed a person to rabies should be reported immediately to the local health department. Prior vaccination of an animal may not preclude the necessity for euthanasia and testing if the period of virus shedding is unknown for that species. Management of animals other than dogs, cats, and ferrets depends on the species, the circumstances of the bite, the epidemiology of rabies in the area, and the biting animal's history, current health status, and potential for exposure to rabies.
Regulations
Los Angeles County
11.04.200 Persons bitten by certain animals -- Report required -- Treatment.
It shall be the duty of each physician to report to the director any case coming to the physician's attention in which a person has been bitten by, or otherwise exposed to, an animal of a species subject to rabies, giving the full name, age and address of the person who has been bitten. If no physician is in attendance on said case, said report shall be made by the person bitten or otherwise exposed, or, in the case of a minor, by his parent or guardian. The director shall ascertain that said individual is treated as the director, in his opinion and discretion, deems necessary for the protection of said individual, and the director shall order the quarantine and observation of the biting animal until it is established by the director that such animal does not have symptoms of rabies. (Ord. 10728 § 1 (part), 1973: Ord. 7583 Part 2 § 218, 1959.)
11.04.230 Owner of biting animal -- Report required -- Examination of confined animal.
Whenever the owner or person having charge, custody or control of any animal observes or learns that such animal has bitten or otherwise exposed a human being, such owner or person having charge, custody or control of such animal shall report the incident at once to the director and shall confine such animal in an enclosure, or shall securely hold and restrain said animal, by chain or other device, for examination and observation by the director. No owner or person having charge, custody or control of such animal shall fail, refuse or neglect to allow the director to make an inspection or examination of such animal for the purpose of determining whether such animal has symptoms of rabies. (Ord. 10728 § 3 (part), 1973: Ord. 7583 Part 2 § 221, 1959.)
11.04.260 Suspected rabid animals -- Owner report and confinement duty.
Whenever the owner or person having charge, custody or control of any animal learns or observes that such animal has shown symptoms of rabies or has acted in a manner which would give said person or owner reason to believe that said animal has rabies, it shall be unlawful for such owner or person having charge, custody or control of such animal to fail, refuse or neglect to notify the director at once and to confine such animal in an enclosure, or to securely hold and restrain such animal by chain or other device until it shall be established that such animal does not have symptoms of rabies, or to fail, refuse or neglect to allow the director to inspect or examine such animal for symptoms of rabies. (Ord. 10728 § 3 (part), 1973: Ord. 7583 Part 2 § 224, 1959.)
California
121595 Preliminary investigation of rabies.
Whenever any case of rabies is reported as existing in any county or city, the department shall make, or cause to be made, a preliminary investigation as to whether the disease exists, and as to the probable area of the state in which the population or animals are endangered.
121605 Investigation.
Following the order of quarantine the department shall make or cause to be made a thorough investigation as to the extent of the disease, the probable number of persons and animals exposed, and the area found to be involved.
121625 Power to enter and examine premises.
Any proper official within the meaning of this chapter may examine and enter upon all private premises for the enforcement of this chapter.
121705 Concealment of information; misdemeanor.
Any person who willfully conceals information about the location or ownership of an animal subject to rabies, that has bitten or otherwise exposed a person to rabies, with the intent to prevent the quarantine or isolation of that animal by the local health officer is guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.