It is a disease from another time. Proof of the effectiveness of vaccines, classical rabies has been eradicated, or almost eradicated in the UK and more globally in the West. However, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, an animal carrying rabies was seen in the street. Particularly aggressive, it bit six people.
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A fox carrying rabies bites people
According to the police, these incidents occurred on the evening of Friday 21 April in downtown Brighton, in the state of New York. In total, six people were bitten by the fox while they were near their homes.
On 22 April, authorities urged residents to be cautious and notify police if they came into contact with the animal. Finally, the police found and executed the animal as a precaution. Only after analysing its remains did they officially discover that the fox was a rabies carrier.
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Fox infected with rabies bites 6 people in one night, New York officials say https://t.co/nPe8ReIY8Y
— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) April 25, 2023
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Rabies: A potentially fatal disease
According to Gov.uk, rabies has all but been eradicated from the UK, giving it the status of rabies-free. It states:
In the UK, rabies has been eliminated from terrestrial animal populations.
In addition:
Human rabies is extremely rare in the UK. The last case of classical rabies acquired in this country was more than a century ago, in 1902. Cases occurring since then have all been acquired abroad, usually through dog bites.
This does not mean, however, that it no longer exists. Worldwide, it is estimated to cause over 59,000 human deaths each year. There were 25 deaths in the UK from imported rabies between 1902 and 2005, and three between 2005 and 2018.
As Gov.uk reminds us, rabies can be transmitted from animals to humans through a bite, scratch, or lick. In addition, 'once clinical rabies develops, it is almost always fatal'.
This article has been adapted from Gentside FR.
Sources used:
Gov.uk: 'Rabies: epidemiology, transmission and prevention'
TravelHealthPro: 'Rabies'
