Stick to what you know best

Rabies is a major public-health problem in developing countries such as China. So much that rabies took the lives of more people in China than any other infectious disease between March and September of 2006, according to China.org. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that approximately 55,000 humans die annually from rabies. Furthermore, WHO estimates that 2.5 billion people are at risk in more than 100 countries.

Today there are 50000 to 60000 human deaths annually, although effective vaccines for post-exposure treatment are available at a cost of approximately $50 USD per treatment. Developing countries account for the majority of all reported human deaths, with the greatest concentration of reports in tropical countries or regions in Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania. During the period 1993–2002, North and South America reported a decrease of 82% in the number of human cases, with cases falling from 216 in 1993 (mortality rate of 0.03 per 100000 inhabitants) to 39 in 2002 (mortality rate of less than 0.01 per 100000 inhabitants).

Rabies is can be a source of economic loss for individuals and nations. More importantly to developed nations, it hampers the movement of animals between countries or regions of the word, which can impact the free market system since some countries are currently rabies free and desire to remain so. PupH., above, knows all too well about this.

Rabies, also known as hydrophobia, is a viral neuroinvasive disease that can result in acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic (transmitted by animals), most commonly by a bite from an infected animal, but occasionally by other forms of contact. If untreated, it is fatal.

The virus is carried in the nerves and saliva of a symptomatic rabid animal and is usually transmitted by bite. The virus travels to an infected animal’s brain via peripheral nerves. The incubation period of the disease is generally consistent with the duration of time and distance that virus must travel to attack the central nervous system. Generally, it spans several months. Once the virus reaches its target and invades the CNS, the disease will turn fatal within days.

Why AG’s sudden interest in rabies? DeWitt is at it again in his weekly column. Not only does he purport to practice law without a license, he questions public health laws, and encouraged misuse of a veterinarian’s medical license. The most amusing part about his claims are that he fails to understand the pedantic English in the following sentence from the 1975 Alabama law that was in effect at the time of the alleged incident:

Home quarantine may be granted at the discretion of local public health officials or the state public health veterinarian if the following conditions are met:

(a) The exposure was provoked and was not an aggressive attack.

(b) The victim lives at the same home as the animal.

(c) The animal is currently vaccinated against rabies.

(d) The animal is examined by a veterinarian 10 days following the incident.


It is my hope that someone from Tuscaloosa County Department of Public Health reads his bravado in the local paper and dusts off some cobwebs on the file cases. The actions of his vet are punishable, at the very minimum. Sadly, DeWitt's ignorance and obstinacy is another cog in the growing chain of illegal and flagrant behaviors of misinformed citizens and will likely result in others thinking they are above Judge Wapner's rulings.

*Photo above copyright of Gregor Samsa and totally taken without his permission. If he has a problem with that, he can come over here and address AG vis a vis his old damn self!