Protect against rabies when deer hunting
UNIVERSITY PARK - Most
deer hunters in Pennsylvania take
many safety precautions with
equipment and clothing before the
hunt, but some may disregard a
major precaution after the hunt - a
check for deer rabies.
“The odds of a hunter shooting a
rabid deer are extremely slim,”
Penn State veterinarian Thomas
R. Drake says. “Over the last 10
years, only five rabid deer have
been found in the state. Current
rabies cases have been limited to
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the southern central counties -
Bedford, Fulton and Franklin.
Outside those areas, the cases are
even rarer.”
“Rabies is a deadly disease,
unless the animal has received
prior immunization, or in the case
of people who’ve received post
exposure treatment,” Penn State
Extension wildlife specialist Jack
Payne says. “But rabies has
always been in wildlife. There’s no
reason to panic. People need to be
educated, not made afraid of
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wildlife.”
Both Drake and Payne say their
offices were swamped with calls
after a rabid deer was found off a
Fulton County road. But some
minor precautions, both say, could
avert such paranoia.
First, a hunter should wear
rubber gloves when cleaning or
skinning a deer.
“Rubber gloves will protect a
hunter, as long as no other part of
the body makes contact,” Drake
says. “The virus can be tran
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smitted in any microscopic cut,
and a hunter’s hands always have
a few cuts.”
Second, a hunter should protect
against internal rabies tran
smission by cooking venison
thoroughly.
“That’s not 100-percent ef
fective, but rabies can be avoided
if the deer is well-cooked,” Drake
says. “Not many people know that
rabies can be contracted in
ternally.”
“Cooking destroys the rabies
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virus in meat,” Payne says.
“Freezing, however, preserves it.
The virus lasts ten days in animals
in its infectious stage, but artic
foxes frozen after dying from
rabies still had traces of the virus
after the spring thaw.”
Besides wearing gloves, Payne
suggests hunters keep their hands
away from a deer’s mouth.
Drake and Payne say deer
rabies is difficult to detect. Rabies
in fur-bearing animals is easier to
spot, Drake explains, because
those animals display erratic
behavior, and can be caught for
professional observations.
“On the other hand, it’s hard to
tell if a deer is rabid,” he says. “If
a deer runs, it’s probably not
rabid, but there’s no way to tell.”
“The problem with deer is, if you
don’t suspect something, and have
no way of checking it, the disease
can progress.”
“Unlike other furbearing
animals, a deer doesn’t lose its
fear of man when rabid,” Payne
says. “A rabid deer will still run
from man.”
And even if every hunter took
basic precautions, there would still
be a problem. Since rabies is a
virus that travels through the
nervous system, the brain is the
only part of the animal that can be
accurately checked for rabies. But
local laboratories could not
possibly check the head of every
deer shot in an average gun
season, Payne says.
“A lab will only check for rabies
if an animal displayed unusual
behavior before biting someone,”
he says. “Labs won’t be able to
handle the demand (if every
hunter wanted to check his deer for
rabies.) They’ll have to turn people
away.”
“I’ve heard of hunters spending
$3OO for pre-exposure vaccinations.
I don’t advocate that,” he says.
“Vaccinations are OK for trappers
because they handle furbearers,
which are the major concerns of
rabies.
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