My younger sister Jana will soon be deploying to Bagram Afghanistan as part of her service in the American Red Cross’s military support division. At the time of this writing she is in Oklahoma preparing for her deployment. Part of their training now involves taking precautions to stay away from stray dogs due to recent problems with rabies exposure in our soldiers.
A Fort Drum soldier, Army Spc. Kevin Shumaker of the 10th Mountain Division1 died earlier this year eight months after being bitten by a stray dog during his deployment in the mountains of Chamkani Afghanistan2. Spc. Kevin Shumaker was trying to break up a dog fight between two vaccinated base dogs and stray dogs that had wandered onto base. As a result of his effort he was bitten on the hand by one of the stray dogs, from whom he contracted rabies.
In 2008 an eleven month old mixed breed puppy that was rescued from Iraq became ill and subsequently tested positive for rabies3. No rabies infection has been reported from the other dogs transported with the sick one, but thirteen people have under gone rabies prophylaxis as precaution. The other dogs have been tracked down and were kept under rabies observation for six months.
Both of these instances underscore a need for all of us and especially our servicemen and women, to be more aware of the risk of rabies infection.
Rabies infection in dogs in the United States is rare due to legally mandated canine rabies vaccination. Even though rabies vaccination is not mandated in most areas for cats it is in the core protocol for most veterinary clinics for their feline patients. Vaccination in some other countries is however, not routine resulting in a much higher rabies infection rate.
American soldiers have always been known for their generosity and kind hearts. When my brother was on his first assignment to Iraq he reported to me that many of the soldiers kept candy to give to the children who would flock to the soldiers hoping to receive a treat. The soldiers know these children cannot afford to buy their own so they do what they can to make their lives happier. It is in this generous nature that they try to help out the animals that are homeless and in need, but also leaves them open to rabies exposure.
Stray or wild animals need to be approached with great caution, every one of which should be considered a rabies suspect. Rabies is nearly always fatal once clinical signs become evident. For safety I strongly encourage extreme caution before stepping in and helping with any type of stray animal.
1. http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/09/ap-fort-drum-soldier-dies-of-rabies-090411/
2. http://www.standard.net/stories/2011/09/16/soldier-afghanistan-dies-rabies-family-wants-answers
3. http://gothainmist.com/2008/10/03/rescued_dogs_from_iraq_prompt_rabie.php