Rabies vaccination

[Nicklhead]

Just wanted to put this out since I just got done with my vaccination. We where predator hunting last weekend and shot a coyote. Driving to another stand we saw another coyote carrying a skunk. We stopped at stop sign and it smelled like he just killed it. Two weeks before this I shot a skunk that was on our property at 11:30 am acting lost. Was ready to skin it and thought I better call the county health department. They picked up skunk and 5 days later I get a call it was positive for rabies. Since I skin and tan hides the health department wanted me vaccinated. 8 shots later I’m done. How many of you other predator hunter are aware of how easy we might contract rabies from the saliva of a coyote that kills a skunk that had rabies. Be safe get vaccinated and keep shooting straight.


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[540-Virginian]

Great post had no idea appreciate the sharing. I coyote hunt so this is interesting to me. Should we test coyotes for rabies after killing if we handle them? Did health department shed any light on that - or was it more the recent skunk kill that caused concern...

 

[CoffeeGoat]

How much did that end up costing? I looked into it several years ago for travel to less developed countries and it was cost prohibitive.

 

[Tick]

Was direct exposure the reason for 8 shots? Mine was just an initial shot and booster.

 

[Fordguy]

The vaccine is cheap and easy. Much better than the post exposure treatment. I can tell you first-hand, I've had both.
My experience was from a horse that had been bitten by a rabid skunk. I didn't know the horse had been bitten, and had handled and treated him for several days before I put him down. Vet asked if he could send in a tissue sample to the CDC for testing and it came back positive for skunk strain rabies. Everyone (3 people total) who had handled the horse in the prior week had to go for post exposure prophylaxis. Not shots in the stomach as so many think, but in the thighs. They started on the front, the turned me around and did the rest on the back side. The ig serum is kept chilled and it goes in slow.

 

[CoffeeGoat]

The vaccine is cheap and easy. Much better than the post exposure treatment. I can tell you first-hand, I've had both.
My experience was from a horse that had been bitten by a rabid skunk. I didn't know the horse had been bitten, and had handled and treated him for several days before I put him down. Vet asked if he could send in a tissue sample to the CDC for testing and it came back positive for skunk strain rabies. Everyone (3 people total) who had handled the horse in the prior week had to go for post exposure prophylaxis. Not shots in the stomach as so many think, but in the thighs. They started on the front, the turned me around and did the rest on the back side. The ig serum is kept chilled and it goes in slow.

Glad to hear you're alright and it wasn't terrible or expensive. We ran into one of the first people who survived rabies in Bangladesh due to the treatment. Poor kid had been bitten by a jackal. It had been several years prior and he mentioned this as he was serving me jackal curry - quite the dish...

 

[Fordguy]

Glad to hear you're alright and it wasn't terrible or expensive. We ran into one of the first people who survived rabies in Bangladesh due to the treatment. Poor kid had been bitten by a jackal. It had been several years prior and he mentioned this as he was serving me jackal curry - quite the dish...

Thanks, my incident took place 20 years ago. I didn't know anyone who vaccinated horses for rabies back then, so it was very unexpected. Goes without saying that all of my horses have been vaccinated ever since.

 

[jmez]

Great post had no idea appreciate the sharing. I coyote hunt so this is interesting to me. Should we test coyotes for rabies after killing if we handle them? Did health department shed any light on that - or was it more the recent skunk kill that caused concern...

Not necessary in coyotes. Skunks are the main reservoir for carrying it. Wear gloves and your risk is pretty low. Virus needs to get beneath the skin barrier to get it.

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[Goodtimekiller]

The vaccine is cheap and easy. Much better than the post exposure treatment. I can tell you first-hand, I've had both.
My experience was from a horse that had been bitten by a rabid skunk. I didn't know the horse had been bitten, and had handled and treated him for several days before I put him down. Vet asked if he could send in a tissue sample to the CDC for testing and it came back positive for skunk strain rabies. Everyone (3 people total) who had handled the horse in the prior week had to go for post exposure prophylaxis. Not shots in the stomach as so many think, but in the thighs. They started on the front, the turned me around and did the rest on the back side. The ig serum is kept chilled and it goes in slow.

Not sure where you are getting your vaccines but they typically aren’t cheap. They are actually cost prohibitive to many people in animal related fields.

The virus has to enter a wound and travel through your nervous system, it can take a little while before it affects you. Most animals will be neurologic in some form, so handle those animals cautiously. If you wear gloves and are careful you probably don’t need the vaccine. Think of the thousands of people who have skinned coyotes and never gotten Rabies.

But, if you want to be safe and fork out the money, it can’t hurt. But you should have titers pulled every 2-3 years to make sure your immune system is still capable of fighting it off if exposed. And if you are exposed, you still should get post exposure shots, but less than the nonvaccinated post exposure.


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[Huntinkev]

A couple years ago mowing a bat fell out of a tree and landed on side of my mower just as I placed my hand down on top of it. I had a small scratch on my hand, I contemplated it a few days and went and had the treatment. It is NOT fun! I ended up with 11 shots. I went in at emergency room because that is the only place that had the vaccine and whatever they shot me up with in my area. The first day I got 9 shots. They put as many as they could on my hand around the scratch, it hurt and burned. It was very thick stuff and they pulled my hand full then gave the rest in my thigh and shoulder along with 1 rabies vaccine. I had to go back in 7 days and get a rabies vaccine boster and then in 10 days gwt another booster.

The 3 shots of vaccine wasn't bad just like any shot but whatever they gave me all them shots the first day was painful and each syringe was loaded full. It took 9 full shots to give me the amount I needed.

It ended up costing me around $1100 for all of it.

 

[Fordguy]

My vaccine was given at the county
health dept. The post exposure shots were at the county hospital. (This was 20 years ago as I mentioned, I haven't had the vaccine since) and they asked for a 5 dollar donation to cover the cost. Technically I didn't even have to pay for it. Horse rabies vaccines are currently the least expensive vaccines that I buy.

 

[Fordguy]

I must have lucked out as far as paying for the post exposure shots. The County took care of the bill- I'm not sure who arranged it. I got a phone call and they just told me to go in for treatment when the CDC gave notice of a positive rabies test. Neither of the other two people who went in for treatment in the same incident were asked to pay either.

The nurse at the health dept (where I got the vaccine and booster) said that most of the veterinarians in the county got their personal rabies vaccines and booster shots from her too. I was was making small talk and she knew most of the vets that I was friends with.

 

[PNWGATOR]

How were you exposed? Broken skin? Mucus membrane?

Or was the vaccine recommended prophylactically based on the potential risk of exposure based on being a predator hunter and skinning them?

 

[Fordguy]

If you're asking me, I was treating a horse that eventually tested positive for rabies. He had lost weight, wasn't eating much, I had my hands in his mouth, checking teeth. IIRC I also had a cut on one of my hands from a broadhead at the time.
For those who are unfamiliar with what rabies does to an animal- its ugly. Especially when it's one of your pets who also works with you. Wouldn't wish that on anyone.

 

[Marbles]

A couple years ago mowing a bat fell out of a tree and landed on side of my mower just as I placed my hand down on top of it. I had a small scratch on my hand, I contemplated it a few days and went and had the treatment. It is NOT fun! I ended up with 11 shots. I went in at emergency room because that is the only place that had the vaccine and whatever they shot me up with in my area. The first day I got 9 shots. They put as many as they could on my hand around the scratch, it hurt and burned. It was very thick stuff and they pulled my hand full then gave the rest in my thigh and shoulder along with 1 rabies vaccine. I had to go back in 7 days and get a rabies vaccine boster and then in 10 days gwt another booster.

The 3 shots of vaccine wasn't bad just like any shot but whatever they gave me all them shots the first day was painful and each syringe was loaded full. It took 9 full shots to give me the amount I needed.

It ended up costing me around $1100 for all of it.

The stuff they gave you was RIG (Rabies Immunoglobulin), it is antibodies to the virus to give your body a head start on fighting it while the vaccine has time to work. The rest of this is overkill on details, but someone might find it interesting.

RIG works best in the area of exposure. However, there is only so much volume that can be put in places like the hand, so the remainder of the dose goes in a muscle, preferably close to the site. However, there is a limit to the amount of volume that each muscle can take, and only certain sites are used as they have low risk of hitting structures such as nerves and blood vessels. The vastus lateralis of the thigh and the gluteus medius of the butt are both large and can take more volume than the deltoid of the shoulder. Preferably the vaccine goes as far away from the RIG as possible. The RIG dose is calculated based on body weight.

 

[Fordguy]

Makes sense. I had 8 shots and my gf at the time only had 5.

 

[Huntinkev]

The stuff they gave you was RIG (Rabies Immunoglobulin), it is antibodies to the virus to give your body a head start on fighting it while the vaccine has time to work. The rest of this is overkill on details, but someone might find it interesting.

RIG works best in the area of exposure. However, there is only so much volume that can be put in places like the hand, so the remainder of the dose goes in a muscle, preferably close to the site. However, there is a limit to the amount of volume that each muscle can take, and only certain sites are used as they have low risk of hitting structures such as nerves and blood vessels. The vastus lateralis of the thigh and the gluteus medius of the butt are both large and can take more volume than the deltoid of the shoulder. Preferably the vaccine goes as far away from the RIG as possible. The RIG dose is calculated based on body weight.

Yea, that was it. I couldn't remember what it was called. That stuff burned going in. Needles don't bother me but I was about tired of getting jabbed by the time they finished. For 2 days after that, I had I guess you could say flu like symptoms. I had a fever, very tired, body aches.

 

[FLAK]

Very informative thread.
I used to want to have a skunk mounted.

 

[Nicklhead]

The direct exposure was the reason for the eight shots. 4 for direct exposure and the other four to set me on course for regular booster shots every two years. Luckily my insurance covered it all. I did ask the pharmacy what each shot would cost and they said $400. Which I feel is ridiculous considering I got my miles done for $12 each. The only difference is package says for human consumption or something. We did get every animal on property boosters I was out the door with the farm vet visit at $205 for one cat 7 dogs and 5 equestrians.

As for testing each coyote handle them with gloves if you skin them. If they are coming in to your call hunting like normal. They are probably not infected. When they are running around in open sight in mid day that is a sign of disease.

I’m glad that I learned it because I tan about 20 to 30 animals a year between raccoons fox skunks and coyotes. We die from rabies when we get it if not diagnosed early. Last thing I want any of us hunters to do is contract a virus we could have avoided. Great responses everyone.


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