Facts about rabies ?

Wife read a story about a women that died from rabies after getting scratched or nipped by a puppy and it really went on the full scare tactic making rabies to be the new threat of the day . My 13 year old does a lot of skinning and fleshing, plus carrying animals to the truck, and my wife is all worried now. We always were gloves, but can gloves tear and other mishaps. After the animal is dead how long does the rabies virus survive ? Myself , I have been lightly scratched on the arm by a hanging coon, or raked my bare knuckle over the exposed teeth. In short what's the real risk . -Thanks

Getting the vaccine shots is the best preventive.The shott works even with accidents or careless handling and when you have no clue the animal had the virus. Not sure about the cost now but the shot is more or less good for life. After the series of shots in three years you need to have a titer check and then every 10 years. That test is under 500.00. My last test was 250.00.
Any vaccine you can take and prevent a vurus from taking your body over is a good thing.

The virus is carried in the slavla, brain, and spinal cord and their fluids. Dispatching an animal with a head shot or blunt force trauma to the head could spread the virus.to other parts. Strong bodygrippers could help spread the virus to other parts also. .

If you're bored read through all the links. It'll be interesting what you find.
https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/transmission/exposure.html

That there is good advice, while I feel the risk of exposure is small dealing with dead animals it is there, it’s a virus and viruses can exist a long time outside a host sometimes for centuries and by the time you start having symptoms it’s to late and the chance of surviving an untreated case is minuscule, only 2 people have done so that I know how of and both suffered severe nerve damage

While there are many that say you need to be exposed to brain or spinal fluids through an open cut or mucus membrane there have been cases of infection due to breathing the air in bat caves so
It’s possible to be exposed with out direct contact with infected fluids though I think that is highly unlikely in a trapping situation

It then how many of us don’t have nicks and scratches on our hands exspecally during trapping season, and even if you are wearing gloves the cheap ones you get at the convention are not medical grade

If I remember correctly, the virus is alive for 24 hrs once ther infected critter dies IF the critters are kept warm. Keeping the critters cold preserves the virus that's why game and fish will say to keep a possibly infected critter cold until the test can be performed.

I've heard of rare cases of trappers who got the bubonic plague, but I've never heard of one getting rabies. It seems like if anything trappers would be contracting rabies from time to time, but that does't seem to be the case.

Not a high risk unless you do dumb things.The virus is not easily transmitted.
Almost always thru a bite.Theoretically you could get it if you had saliva or neural tissue from an infected animal on your hand and wiped your eye or mouth.
Rabies in saliva is not viable once the saliva is dry.Cold(freezing) preserves it.Heat kills it.
Rabies is in the brain and spinal chord so shooting in the head or clubbing is a no no.
We had a rabies outbreak 20 years ago in fox,there were a lot of them around and I trapped thru it.
Any animals that were caught alive in footholds were dispatched with a body shot and left to lay for a day until the sliva dried out.Then they were hung for a couple days before skinning.Of course,always wear nitrile gloves for skinning to prevent other nasty stuff.
Any obviously sick animal should be dispatched and not processed.The time when an infected animal can pass on the rabies virus until it dies is relatively short.
Also an animal when sick enough with rabies to be infected has no intrest in food and would not be attracted to lure or bait.

For peace of mind get the pre exposure shots. These shots cover you for any exposure that you did not know you had. A titer should be checked periodically after to see if a booster shot is needed. A year ago I was bitten by a fox pup as I released him, and he drew blood. I was given a single booster as a precaution. My county health department covered the cost of all the shots.

My insurance covered the "pre exposure vaccination" 100%. Post exposure shots are about 5 k....and not covered due to a "Vaccination" available. Made it easy for me...and peace of mind.

So for the pre exposure shot I just schedule an appt. to get one and insurance covers it ?

Also, do rabid animals survive once temps get down below freezing , or does that kill most of them off ?

Anyone every caught a critter showing the obvious signs of rabies ? -Thanks

I hear coons have a strain that is quite widespread.
There are two kinds of rabies-the furious form and the dumb form.
Like any other animal disease it becomes a problem when populations rise due to lack of sound management.

Boco, I believe the furious and dumb forms are more a function of how the animal reacts vs different strains of the virus. I could be wrong.

As far as the animal not responding to bait or lure, you can still get them in blind sets, snares or bodygrips on a trail. Though usually they wonder aimlessly.

Rabies is kind of interesting. It travels through nerves at about an inch per day. If you were bitten on your fingers, it might take 3-4 weeks before it gets to your brain. But if it bites you on the face, you’ve got to get the prophylaxis shots right away. I believe the viral movement tests were done on rabbits in the 1960s, so this information has been known for a while.

My insurance doesn't cover it at all. Had to call 4 different healthcare providers to find one that would even administer it.

Out of curiosity, how many of you folks on Tman have received the pre-exposure vaccination?

As a newbie, it seems like some trappers say definitely get the shot, while others say that trappers have been trapping for generations and have never heard of someone getting rabies from recreational trapping...

Had a shot years ago. Went to the county health department, and paid for it out of my pocket. I believe at the time, it was 65 dollars. I never did follow up on any booster shots. The rabies virus dies quickly when exposed to sunlight. The ultraviolet rays kill it pretty quickly, if exposed to the sun. If it is in an animals nervous system, oviously the sun can't reach it, so tread with caution. From what I have seen, I believe warm conditions help propagate the disease, because most rabies outbreaks happen during the summer months and usually subside when it starts cooling of in the fall, but these are JMHO from what I have observed.

PA Trappers Assn. arranged for a group of us trappers to get the pre-exposure vaccine (3 shots in arm over a month) at a reduced cost. Years later I was bit by a bat so got the blood level checked and titre was still good after 15 years. By the time the lab sent the results back had already got 1 of 3 boosters, so did not need the other 2.

I am scheduled to get my three pre-exposure shots starting next week. Second one is 7 days after the first and the third one is 21-28 days after the second. Total cost is $1080 if your insurance doesn't cover it.

Any Veteran registered in the VAMC can get these shots at little or no cost. Because of cost, you may have to argue a bit, tell them you handle wild animals and "NEED" the shots. May have to go see a Vet Rep or the Patients Advocate. This includes an annual Titer test.