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Posted by tblasdel on March 26, 2002 at 13:06:12: In Reply to: i was bitten, anti-rabies??? posted by rarepets on February 26, 2001 at 11:10:43:
For the record, any mammal can be infected by the rabies virus. It is exceedingly rare for rodents to have the disease, but not impossible. In the last 10 years in Texas, rabies has been reported in a porcupine and a rabbit, both rodents. Rodent rabies is most often reported in woodchucks in the eastern US, presumably because they can survive an attack from a larger rabid animal. There have been isolated reports in chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits over the years. China is a rabies endemic area with more than 200 human cases annually. It is primarily a canine disease there. My question would be how the animals were maintained before you got them. If they were outside in a rural area, in cages where dogs could bite but not kill them, there is some need for concern. Your captive animals should always be handled with gloves (you probably know this by now), if one dies its head should be sent to the nearest health department for rabies testing, and, in my opinion, you should not sell them or distribute them until you've had them in quarantine for 6 months. Hope this helps.
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