Have You Ever Heard Of A Seal Having Rabies?

OneEyedDiva

OneEyedDiva

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New Jersey
How did this seal get rabies? That is a question my son asked on his Facebook page. Apparently the first case of a seal with rabies was recently found in Here's an article about seals with rabies.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/12/africa/dead-seals-cape-town-beaches-intl/index.html

Here's updated information from Brave's search engine:

"According to recent reports, a significant number of Cape fur seals have been found to be infected with rabies along the coastlines of South Africa. As of the latest updates, at least 24 seals have tested positive for the virus, with 17 of them confirmed in July 2024 and 9 more in subsequent months.

Transmission and Spread

Scientists believe that the rabies virus was initially transmitted to the seals from black-backed jackals in Namibia, where the jackals hunt seal pups on the coastline. The genes of the rabies virus found in the seals matched the rabies in black-backed jackals in Namibia.

Human Exposure and Risks

While no human cases of rabies have been reported, at least 72 people in South Africa have been bitten or scratched by Cape fur seals since 2021, with 8 of these incidents involving seals confirmed to have rabies. This highlights the importance of taking precautions when interacting with infected seals."
 

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I haven't heard of very many cases of rabies outside of the US. I was one of the first at the boarding stable who had their horses vaccinated for rabies when it was available many years ago. Some of the owners at that time thought it was a waste to do so. Now, it's common practice to vaccinate horses.

I know that raccoons & other animals that can potentially carry rabies are in our area wonder into barns. I would like to have the shot since I live in the woods & those critters reside in my woods. There hasn't been a problem in our area that I can remember, but all of my critters are vaccinated when it's time to do it.

However, people insurance doesn't want to cover the shot for for prevention. Recently I looked at one website & the out of pocket cost was between $800 to $1300 for pre-exposure & $2,500 to $7,000 for post-exposure & treatment. I was thinking about talking to my primary care or the local pharmacy to see what the actual price for my area would be.

It's my understanding that those working in vet's office (at least in my area) get their shots, but it's covered because of their job.

My doc friend told me that if you even get scratched by an animal that is known to carry the virus you need to go to the ER & get shots right away. By the time you have the symptoms, it will be too late.
 

Lilac said:
I haven't heard of very many cases of rabies outside of the US. I was one of the first at the boarding stable who had their horses vaccinated for rabies when it was available many years ago. Some of the owners at that time thought it was a waste to do so. Now, it's common practice to vaccinate horses.

I know that raccoons & other animals that can potentially carry rabies are in our area wonder into barns. I would like to have the shot since I live in the woods & those critters reside in my woods. There hasn't been a problem in our area that I can remember, but all of my critters are vaccinated when it's time to do it.

However, people insurance doesn't want to cover the shot for for prevention. Recently I looked at one website & the out of pocket cost was between $800 to $1300 for pre-exposure & $2,500 to $7,000 for post-exposure & treatment. I was thinking about talking to my primary care or the local pharmacy to see what the actual price for my area would be.

It's my understanding that those working in vet's office (at least in my area) get their shots, but it's covered because of their job.

My doc friend told me that if you even get scratched by an animal that is known to carry the virus you need to go to the ER & get shots right away. By the time you have the symptoms, it will be too late.
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I worked as a veterinary assistant and was vaccinated yearly for rabies. There was no charge.
 
There still is no valid test for a virus, so pharma is making up another nonsensical story.
Case in point, I've never had a vaccination my entire life and I've never been sick from a virus.
Also I've been bit by dogs and other animals many times, none of them had rabies and I've never had rabies.
Animals do get sick, yes, including humans, yes. But getting sick entails real causes / pollutants, not imaginary ones.

Another case in point, look at who posts multiple times in a row, and who makes no logical sense.
Pure and simple, when you can't prove something exists, then it doesn't exist. It's just a marketing tool.
 
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Here in the Province of Ontario, we have an interesting method for aerial distribution of rabies baits. The Province has a number of aircraft that drop hundreds of small edible baits that contain a dose of rabies vaccine. These are air dropped in specific geographic locations where there are higher than normal numbers of infected animals.

A further interesting fact is that all of the bridges that cross the International border between Ontario and the USA have movement sensors and heat sensors, to track animals crossing from one county to the other. Most of those border crossers are raccoons and skunks and foxes, who are trapped and killed. Some of the furry border crossers are riding on freight trains, which are required to slow down to about 10 miles and hour, so the sensors can detect the hitch hikers.

Rabies in humans in Canada is VERY rare. In fact, just recently a person in Ontario was diagnosed with the first confirmed case, in 60 years.

link. First Case Of Human Rabies In Ontario In Many Years - Search News

JIM.
 
MaidMarian said:
I worked as a veterinary assistant and was vaccinated yearly for rabies. There was no charge.
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They've had a vaccine for rabies? Why weren't we all vaxxed as kids? We were playing outdoors all the time with no supervision and so were animals. It would have made sense.:unsure:
 
chic said:
They've had a vaccine for rabies? Why weren't we all vaxxed as kids? We were playing outdoors all the time with no supervision and so were animals. It would have made sense.:unsure:
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In order to be infected with rabies, a person would need to be either bitten, scratched or be in contact with the saliva of an infected animal. Here in the Province of Ontario the FIRST confirmed case of human rabies in sixty YEARS, was just reported. Does that answer your question about why there is no wide spread vaccination, against rabies ? JIM.
 
chic said:
They've had a vaccine for rabies? Why weren't we all vaxxed as kids? We were playing outdoors all the time with no supervision and so were animals. It would have made sense.:unsure:
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Good question. I searched and came up with a probable answer. "Resources are directed towards animal control and post-exposure treatment rather than universal human vaccination."
 
I got bit by a mean German Shepard while playing football in the park when I was 17. I watched it closely, and I don't know what I would of done. You can get the dog and test it. That would of been almost impossible. Probably 99% of dog bites are not rabies infected. Went with the odds and am alive today.
 
Oh, dear, I see a movie coming...."Seals! Swim for Your Life!"

The sea off Amity Island is infested with rabid seals, there's a lot of people screaming their way out of the water, and a couple of brave men along with a drunken boat captain go out and reason with the seals, making sure they're all vaccinated, especially the pups.

Everything ends happily, except for the people who have to submit to treatment for rabies.
 
John cycling said:
There still is no valid test for a virus, so pharma is making up another nonsensical story.
Case in point, I've never had a vaccination my entire life and I've never been sick from a virus.
Also I've been bit by dogs and other animals many times, none of them had rabies and I've never had rabies.
Animals do get sick, yes, including humans, yes. But getting sick entails real causes / pollutants, not imaginary ones.
Click to expand...
Rabies is not imaginary. If you see it, you’ll never forget it.
 
In the animal hospital where I worked, if we were bitten by an animal that wasn’t vaccinated, the animal had to be quarantined for 10 days and observed for any signs of rabies. This is by law.

An animal that bit us and then died had to be tested for rabies. If you are squeamish, don’t read on.

To test, the head of the animal had to be removed and then sent to the health department. The animal’s brain tissue must be tested for rabies.
I’ll never forget when I was brand new at the animal hospital and I opened the refrigerator and found a dog’s severed head inside!
 
I had never heard of seals having rabies.

Rabies Vaccine for Dogs: How Often Do Dogs Need Shots?.

It seems the first preventative vaccines started for dogs in the 1980s.

My grandmother as a child was required to milk the cows and then walk over to her grandmother's house with a bucket of milk every morning. She had to walk through a cornfield to get there. She said she was always afraid to walk through that cornfield because there might be rabid dogs in there. Rabies in dogs was much more common back then.
 
chic said:
They've had a vaccine for rabies? Why weren't we all vaxxed as kids? We were playing outdoors all the time with no supervision and so were animals. It would have made sense.:unsure:
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Although there are many human exposures to rabies, people actually coming down with the virus is very rare. There might be 3 people a year that get rabies in the USA, so vaccinating everyone is unnecessary.
Working at an animal hospital, made me high risk. Everyone who works with animals gets bitten … and the animal is usually sick .
 
chic said:
They've had a vaccine for rabies? Why weren't we all vaxxed as kids? We were playing outdoors all the time with no supervision and so were animals. It would have made sense.:unsure:
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Yeah, jimintoronto is right, cases of rabies is too rare to recommend vaccinating kids for it. Even back in the pioneer days, when people basically lived among the wildlife, there were few cases of humans dying from rabies.
 

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