Iowa animal tests show rabies at lowest level in decades

Iowa's rabies cases were at a 10-year low last year, but health officials say that doesn't mean the animal-borne disease is retreating.

Just 27 animals tested positive for rabies in 2010, the fewest in the past decade.

“It's the lowest number we've seen for 10 years,” said Dr. Ann Garvey, state public health veterinarian. “However, we know it's in our wildlife and it can cross over to domestic animals.”

Garvey said several factors affect the numbers, including animal migration patterns and the number of animals tested at the State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa and the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Ames.

Health officials note that many animals are tested because they exhibit unusual behavior, making them more likely to be infected with the rabies virus.

Awareness is also a factor.

The number of cases jumped after a Cedar Rapids man died from rabies in 2002 and labs were inundated with animals for testing.

Cases peaked in Iowa in 2005, with 108 positive tests.

Ronald Buckley, 20, a Cedar Rapids rap musician, died from a bat strain of the virus, the first rabies death in the state in 51 years.

Garvey said rabies treatment is warranted when someone has been bitten by a wild animal, but with bats, treatment can be given if someone wakes up with a bat in their room or sees a bat in the room with a child.

Even if a bat “flies into your arm,” she said, a bite may have been inflicted.

“We know that the bite isn't always visible to the naked eye,” Garvey said.

A dose of immune globulin at the site of the wound and four to five doses of vaccine are given to people at risk of contracting rabies, which is almost always fatal.

Garvey noted that the exact number of people who receive rabies treatment is unknown, but nationwide, it's estimated at 40,000 people annually. Based on Iowa's population, that would be about 390 Iowans each year.

Iowans should contact their veterinarian to have an animal tested, she said.

Bats and skunks are the most common carriers of rabies in the state; 285 bats and 205 skunks have tested positive since 2001.

Last year, 1,479 animals in Iowa were tested, with 10 bats and 13 skunks confirmed positive for rabies. A cat, dog, fox and cow also tested positive in 2010.

Garvey said Iowans should avoid handling wild animals and should not keep them as pets.

Pets should be vaccinated for rabies and pet food kept indoors to discourage wild animals from coming to homes, she said.

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