Rabies outbreak continues
(Continued from Page Al)
disease, just come in contact with
the saliva,” he adds.
A bill Introduced in the House
late last Fall by Franklin County
legislator Rep. Terry Punt would
make rabies vaccinations man
datory for dog licensing, with a
$5OO fine levied against owners of
unlicensed canines.
That bill, says Rep. Punt, came
into being after discussion with
individuals, animal-related groups
and farmers who expressed
concern over the high rate of
rabies infections last year in
Franklin County and surrounding
areas.
House BUI 1700 as introduced
would establish county clinics
where pet owners could bring their
pets for at-cost vaccinations, assist
in the cost of injections for in
dividuals deemed at high risk to
rabies in their profession, and set
up statewide programs for han
dling rabies reports and con
firmation informatin.
Amendments and rewrites are
anticipated as the bill moves
through channels, Rep. Punt notes,
including one that could give the
Secretary of Health the option to
concentrate resources on target
areas where rabies problems
arise.
Hearings on H.B. 1700 are
scheduled for March 28 and 29.
A few isolated cases of rabies
were confirmed last year in the
state in large farm animals.
In one case, according to BAl’s
Dr. Cable, a racoon wafted into a
milking parlor and bit a dairy cow
on the leg. In another instance, a
raccoon bit two cows as they en
tered a bam.
"Rabies causes a lot of fear and
apprehension because people just
don’t know much about the
disease,” he says. "The virus is
passed in the saliva of an infected
animal and can enter the body
through a break in the skin, or at
the eyes.”
Symptoms of rabies do not
necessarily follow that classic idea
of an animal foaming at the mouth.
Instead, infected animals may
appear very dull, or may show
extremely abnormal behaviour,
such as a nocturnal type wantering
near buildings in mid-day.
Dr. Cable cites instances of wild
animals reported to be coming
within the range of dogs or en
tering doghouses or other out-
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buildings from which they nor
mally shy away.
With the approach of warmer
weather, heidth officials fear
escalating rabies reports, as cattle
and horses are pastured, pets
roam more widely, and the human
populace takes to the outdoors.
They caution, repeatedly,
against panic, and suggest that
vaccinating domestic pets is one of
the best preventive measures
against rabies that can be taken.
According to the state vet, rabies
is a seven-to-ten year cyclic
disease, jumping periodically from
species to species. He recounts a
massive outbreak in Pennsylvania
during’ the 1940’s with about a
thousand reported cases of rabies
infections in dogs. FoUowing a
vigorous vaccination campaign,
the epidemic subsided.
During the 1950’s another rabies
problem centered on the Com
monwealth’s fox population.
In the 1970’5, areas of the South
began reporting rabid racoons, the
beginning of the epidemic now
posing a threat to Pennsylvania,
after moving north about one
hundred miles yearly.
Rabies outbreaks in Virginia
reached a peak in 1982, when 745
cases were reported. Last year,
Virginia’s cases total 564.
In neighboring Maryland, the 152
cases in 1982 mushroomed to 717
cases during 1983, with signs this
year pointing to a dropping rate of
reports.
Joan Lewis, a spokesman for the
Maryland Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene, explains that
the state’s rabies policy focuses
primarily on prevention and
education.
Maryland state law requires that
all dogs receive rabies vac
cinations, and numerous local
jurisidictions require similar
protection for cats. A public
education drive on rabies
awareness includes materials put
into school to help children un
derstand why wild animals must
not be handled.
Anytime a rabies case is
suspected, the head of the suspect
animal must be sent to a state or
state-approved laboratory for
testing.
While testing on suspect cases in
Maryland does continue, Lewis
emphasizes that it is not being
done unnecessarily. Only
suspicious animals that have had
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human contact are tested, not
every animal picked up from along
the roadside.
York agent Dobrosky echoes
that Maryland policy, noting that
the state labs would be over
whelmed with testing every dead
animal found along the road. Only
animals under suspect should be
reported and tested.
Only a few farm animal rabies
cases were found during
Maryland’s epidemic peak period,
most of them cows that had been
bitten by raccoons.
A new vaccine for rabies
protection in large animals was
just recently approved for use in
the U.S. by the Food and Drug
Administration. Distributed by the
Pittman-Moore drug firm at
Washington Crossing, N.J., the
vaccine is produced at the Merieux
Laboratory in Georgia, a division
of the Merieux Institute in Lyon,
France.
Used for many years in Europe,
the rabies vaccine was initially
approved for use on cats and dogs
about a year ago, but just recently
won USDA’s approval for vac
cinating horses, cattle and sheep.
While local vets have seen a
marked increase in requests for
vaccinations on cats and dogs,
large animal vaccinations have
been minimal.
Livestock owners are urged to
seek professional help im
mediately if they have reason to
suspect a rabies problem with an
animal acting unduly aggressive,
or markedly different from its
usual behavior, and to inform their
attending veterinarian of any
rabies suspicions.
Extreme care is also recom
mended in disposing of any suspect
dead animals, since rabies virus is
so readily transmissible through
open wounds to the skin.
For their own protection, some
local veterinarians and clinic
staffers have undergone the new
human rabies protection vaccine
program, which consists of three
injections given at two-week in
tervals. Since a vial of that vaccine
is adequate to treat eight persons
at one time, and must be used
immediately, some vets have
joined forces with others in setting
up programs for protecting
themselves and their employees.
New protection and treatment
drugs are Jess expensive and
considerably less painful than
medications available in the past.
PUBLIC SALE
SATURDAY, MARCH 17,1984
Starting at 9:30 A.M.
JOHN'S AUTO SALES & SALVAGE
JOHN KUSTABORDER, JR. AUTO SALVAGE HOME
717-726-4696
LATE MODEL USED PARTS
USED CARS
ROLL BACK
TOWING SERVICE
WE BUY JUNK CARS, BATTERIES & SCRAP METAL
RD 2 HOWARD
(V« MILE OFF ROUTE 64 ON ROUTE 445) 383-4715
1977 CHEVY 4WD Vi TON PICKUP
Steam Jenny, Wilson 50 T hydraulic press, Carolina SO T hydraulic press,
hydraulic controls, hydraulic pumps, hoses, fittings, lawn mower, Hobart
welder’s generators, conveyor belt roolers, electric motors, 3 hydraulic
test benches, Colliflower hydrolic pump, electric boxes, misc. fittings,
nails, misc, office equipment, 6 inch water pump, Continental 4 cylinder,
2100 Berhman tire changer.
Chairs, Chairs and more Chairs...
5 ton railroad jack, C M Cyclone 2 Ton chain hoist, school desks, 6
lockers, 20 hole bolt bins, 5 small lockers, 6 hole, shelving, welding helmets,
4 oak desks, 12 maple chairs, drag cord, 3 Ton shop crane, brooms, light
bulbs, waste cans, electric sign, 2 rectifiers, dining room set, 6 chairs,
brazing rods, power plant Kohler engine 115 volt, service counter, 2 San
ders, air compressor, 3 pliast winch % ton, electric winch Vz ton, chain
hoist trolley, shop stools, 6 inch Craftsman grinder, paper and dispensers,
20 folding chairs.
Lots of Nuts and Bolts.
Many other items too numerous to mention.
TERMS: CASH OR GOOD CHECK.
Owners and Auctioneer not responsible for accidents.
JOHN ESH. Auctioneer
R.D. #2 80x316A
Bellefonte, PA 16823
Lunch will be available
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 10,1904—A37
NIR to be displayed
This infrared scanner and computer will be displayed for
the first time March 22 and 23 during the National Alfalfa Hay
Quality Testing Workshop at the O'Hare/Kennedy Holiday
Inn, Chicago. The scanner and computer determine in a few
minutes the feeding quality of forage or grain. The workshop
will seek adoption of national standards for testing alfalfa hay,
using this equipment developed at Penn State in a process
known as Near Infrared Reflectance. Penn State technician
Mahlon E. Fetzger enters a pulverized alfalfa sample into the
infrared scanner.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
As a condition for
price support on 1984-
crop cigar-binder types
51 (broadleaf) and 52
Tobacco fee hiked
(Havana seed) tobaccos
grown in Connecticut
and Massachusetts,
producers must agree to
contribute 10 cents per
pound to a iio-iiei-L-osi
account on all sales of
these tobaccos, a U.S.
Department of
Agriculture official said
today.
The 10-cents-per-po
und contributions en
sure the tobacco price
support program is
operated at no net cost
to taxpayers as required
by the No Net Cost
Tobacco Program Act
of 1982, according to
Everett Rank, ad
ministrator of USDA’s
Agricultural Stabilizat
ion and Conservation
Service.
The 3 cents per pound
contributed last year by
producers of Con
necticut Valley types 51
and 52 tobaccos was not
enough to cover ex
pected losses from
disposition of the 1982
and 1983 crops, because
of the large quantity of
tobacco placed under
Commodity Credit
Corporation loan in 1983,
Rank said.
Also, Rank said, for
types 51 and 52 tobacco
placed under CCC price
support loan in 1984, an
additional 10 cents per
pound will be deducted
by the Conn-Mass
Tobacco Cooperative,
Incorporated, in
Holyoke, Mass., to