[pyrnet] Possible Rabies Exposure in College Station Texas

["sandy white" <swhite2@houston.rr.com>]

There are a lot of Texas people on the list, so I am cross-posting this
message.

--- Original Message -----
To: Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2000 11:00 AM
Subject  ALERT: Possible Rabies Exposures in College Station


Below is a press release from the Zoonosis Control Division, Texas
Department
of Health. = posted by Tom Beckett, DVM
===================
Texas Department of Health
NEWS  RELEASE
November 3, 2000

Media Help Sought in Alerting Pet Store Visitors to Possible Rabies Exposure

Texas Department of Health rabies control officials are asking for the news
media's help in locating out-of-town visitors to a College Station pet store
who may have been exposed to a kitten that later tested positive for rabies.

TDH officials say people who visited the Post Oaks Pets store from Oct. 15
through Oct. 19 and were bitten, scratched or licked by a kitten should
contact a doctor or call the TDH zoonosis control office in Houston at (713)
767-3300 or the Brazos Animal Shelter at (979) 361-0675 to determine if
post-exposure treatment to prevent the development of rabies is needed.

The pet store is in the Post Oak Mall at the intersection of the Highway 6
Bypass and Harvey Road in College Station.

More than 100 people have contacted rabies control officials following local
news coverage, but health authorities say pet store visitors from out of
town may not be aware of the situation.

The kitten, one of a litter of four brought to the mall on Oct. 15, was sold
on Oct. 19.  Rabies tests on the other three kittens were negative.
Officials said the rabid kitten was exposed to rabies prior to arriving at
the store.

Rabies is most often transmitted by bites, but transmission can occur in
other ways that allow the saliva from an infected animal to enter a person's
bloodstream.  A series of post-exposure shots, if given in time, can prevent
rabies from developing.  Once symptoms develop, rabies is almost always
fatal.

- 30 -

(For more information contact Joe Garrett, D.V.M., TDH Zoonosis Control
Division, Austin, at 512-458-7255; or Doug McBride, TDH Public
Information Officer, Austin, at 512-458-7524.)










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