rabies in south fl

[taijinrr]

just heard about a rabies alert notice through a rescue group email
that was posted to a non-rescue list I'm on.  I confirmed that the
dog did have rabies by my phone call today to the Health Department
of Broward County (954-467-4700).  Broward County's Animal Control's
phone number is 954-359-1313 but I haven't been able to get through to
confirm other information.

I was told by the Broward Florida Dept. of Health that this is the
first case of Rabies in a dog (in their area/in the state of
Florida? - not sure which) since 1957.

The email alert stated that animals picked up by animal control in
the area of Broward County, Cooper City, Weston, Southwest Ranches
and Davie (in the areas affected)will be held for 72 hours and
euthanized if the owners do not come forward to claim
them.  It further stated that by order of the State of Florida Dept.
of Health, animals picked up in Cooper City, Weston, Southwest
Ranches and Davie can not be adopted or released to rescue until the
Rabies Alert is lifted.  I do not have confirmation of these two
statements information since I could not reach Animal Control.

The email further stated that pet owners living in the Rabies Alert
Area can attend any Low-Cost Rabies Vaccination and License Tag
Clinic offering the rabies vaccination and license tag for only $15.
The clinics are normally restricted to low-income pet owners,
but pet owners living in the rabies alert cities can also attend as
required by the 2005 Florida Department of Health Rabies Prevention
and Control Procedures.  Again, I do not have confirmation of this
information as I'm at work and can't complete the research.

There were also these two links for further information.

http://www.broward.org/animal/ani02400.htm

http://cbs4.com/newslocal/topstoriesmia_story_132160954.html

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[GYPSY JAZMINE]

Ty for the heads up!...I don't live in FL. but a good friend does & so does her brother...They both have dogs & he is close to Broward County..I will pass this on to them!

[mastiffmommy]

Scary!! Being from Sweden, I was totally new to the whole rabies thing when I moved here, and it scared the living daylight out off me, I had all kinds of thoughts about my children petting dogs or cats and got licked and got it that way, I did a lot and I mean a looooot of research to try and better understand how it worked and if a pet could get it from an animal and then transfer it to a human, even though it was vaccinated, well you name it, and I thought up the cenario, and called the hmmm think it is called CDC in Atlanta, they gave me the name of one of the vet's who is their spec. on rabies, I am sure that poor man thought I was a total nut who needed some kind of help (other than his) But at least I did feel a bit better after that, just knowing how it works and how it can transmit helped me deal with it, but hey.... if there was a good vaccine I would be first in line with my kids (two legged I mean).

I live in NC, and we had a dog here, probably 4 years ago or so, a dog that had been brought to a preschool I think it was, for show and tell, and then got sick and tested pos. So you can imagine all the worried parents, but after that I have not heard anything around here. Lets hope this is just an isolated case.

Thank's for the information, I checked the links out and a lot of useful info on them

Marit