Any Infectious Disease Docs out there or Rabies Specialists?!
Question: I was bitten in the hand by a feral cat and I then had to recieve a series of rabies shots. Then i got bit in the face by a friend's cat and it's shots were not up to date.
Animal control said the cat would be dead after 10 days if it had rabies, but i have heard that rabies can be in the system some time before being symptomatic.
How safe am I if the cat had rabies? And yes I am a human being. And yes I have the worst luck!
I had my shots 6 months ago.
Answers: I was bitten in the hand by a feral cat and I then had to recieve a series of rabies shots. Then i got bit in the face by a friend's cat and it's shots were not up to date.
Animal control said the cat would be dead after 10 days if it had rabies, but i have heard that rabies can be in the system some time before being symptomatic.
How safe am I if the cat had rabies? And yes I am a human being. And yes I have the worst luck!
I had my shots 6 months ago.
The CDC recommends: A healthy domestic dog, cat, or ferret that bites a person should be confined and observed for 10 days.
Any illness in the animal during the confinement period or before release should be evaluated by a veterinarian and reported immediately to the local public health department.
If signs suggestive of rabies develop, postexposure prophylaxis should be initiated. The animal should be euthanized and its head removed and shipped, under refrigeration, for examination by a qualified laboratory.
The acute phase or rabies lasts 1-10 days with death. That's why there is a 10 day observation window. The fact that you had actually a rabies series; you have antibodies circulating anyway. You are fine. Feral animals can not be confined, that's why we give the shots.