Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Via ProMED-mail: the South Carolina Department of Health and Environment Control reports on a rabid raccoon that exposed sixteen people to rabies, because they wouldn't let Darwin be Darwin.

Sixteen people who were exposed to rabies by a raccoon are under the care of a physician after the raccoon tested positive for the disease, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said today.
"The baby raccoon was found in the woods and was being cared for by several people over the past several weeks," said Sue Ferguson of DHEC's Bureau of Environmental Health.
According to Ferguson, many of the exposures occurred when feeding the raccoon, as caretakers came into contact with the animal's saliva. Seven more people are being evaluated for possible exposure risk.

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