10-15-2016, 12:20 PM
"Rats don't transmit rabies"
They can, and do, however it is very rare. The CDC has no records of rats transmitting rabies to humans in the USA but it has been documented elsewhere. Most small mammals that would get a rabies-infecting bite are also unlikely to survive the attack, and wounded rats retreat to their burrows where if infected with rabies they usually die. It's not impossible for a rat to get rabies, or transmit it, its just statistically not very significant in the USA. The only mammal known to have any resistance (not immunity) to rabies are opposums.
So few people die of rabies in the USA that when it happens it makes the national news, however a person dies of rabies in India every 30 minutes (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2244675/ ) . We think of it almost like an eradicated disease like small pox, but in the rest of the world its a real problem. Globally, a human dies of rabies every 9 minutes (http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p...abies.html). This is up from the figure I was taught when I got my rabies vaccines due to my employment at a humane society where I was "the guy" who had to deal with any potentially rabid animals. Back then it was 1 human every 11 minutes, but the increase could be due to better reporting and not just more rabies.
But enough about rats. Indian Mongoose ARE a major rabies vector, and they are awake at the same time humans are:
"Mongoose rabies.
Everard CO1, Everard JD.
Author information
Abstract
Mongooses are indigenous to Africa and Asia and have been introduced elsewhere. In Cuba, Puerto Rico, Grenada, and South Africa they are the major reservoir and vector of rabies. Elsewhere, sporadic cases of mongoose rabies are reported, but dog rabies can mask their importance. Population density probably determines the importance of the mongoose as a reservoir of rabies. In Grenada during a 4-year period, nearly 30% (and in some areas greater than 50%) of mongooses were found to have rabies serum neutralizing antibodies. The annual proportions of mongooses that were serum antibody-positive and virus-positive, respectively, were inversely related. Natural immunity in mongooses probably lasts for life. In contrast with foxes, in mongooses immunity is an important factor in the epizootiology of rabies. Inoculation of mongooses with Evelyn-Rokitnicki-Abelseth (ERA) vaccine induced a good immunologic response and augurs well for the success of vaccination in the field. The effects of wildlife vaccination on animal populations with high levels of natural immunity need to be investigated before costly campaigns are started.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3060954 "
The point of all this is that Hawaii has EXCELLENT import restrictions to prevent rabies from coming here via passenger air transport, however most of our domesticated animals don't have any protection against rabies should it arrive the way all our other stuff gets here, and the mongoose vector is on every island except Kauai to help it spread quickly. Unlike Dengue or Zika, where most people survive, in the last few thousand years only 8-10 people have been documented to survive getting rabies ( http://abcnews.go.com/Health/california-...d=13830407 )
ETA: dramatic language at the end
They can, and do, however it is very rare. The CDC has no records of rats transmitting rabies to humans in the USA but it has been documented elsewhere. Most small mammals that would get a rabies-infecting bite are also unlikely to survive the attack, and wounded rats retreat to their burrows where if infected with rabies they usually die. It's not impossible for a rat to get rabies, or transmit it, its just statistically not very significant in the USA. The only mammal known to have any resistance (not immunity) to rabies are opposums.
So few people die of rabies in the USA that when it happens it makes the national news, however a person dies of rabies in India every 30 minutes (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2244675/ ) . We think of it almost like an eradicated disease like small pox, but in the rest of the world its a real problem. Globally, a human dies of rabies every 9 minutes (http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p...abies.html). This is up from the figure I was taught when I got my rabies vaccines due to my employment at a humane society where I was "the guy" who had to deal with any potentially rabid animals. Back then it was 1 human every 11 minutes, but the increase could be due to better reporting and not just more rabies.
But enough about rats. Indian Mongoose ARE a major rabies vector, and they are awake at the same time humans are:
"Mongoose rabies.
Everard CO1, Everard JD.
Author information
Abstract
Mongooses are indigenous to Africa and Asia and have been introduced elsewhere. In Cuba, Puerto Rico, Grenada, and South Africa they are the major reservoir and vector of rabies. Elsewhere, sporadic cases of mongoose rabies are reported, but dog rabies can mask their importance. Population density probably determines the importance of the mongoose as a reservoir of rabies. In Grenada during a 4-year period, nearly 30% (and in some areas greater than 50%) of mongooses were found to have rabies serum neutralizing antibodies. The annual proportions of mongooses that were serum antibody-positive and virus-positive, respectively, were inversely related. Natural immunity in mongooses probably lasts for life. In contrast with foxes, in mongooses immunity is an important factor in the epizootiology of rabies. Inoculation of mongooses with Evelyn-Rokitnicki-Abelseth (ERA) vaccine induced a good immunologic response and augurs well for the success of vaccination in the field. The effects of wildlife vaccination on animal populations with high levels of natural immunity need to be investigated before costly campaigns are started.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3060954 "
The point of all this is that Hawaii has EXCELLENT import restrictions to prevent rabies from coming here via passenger air transport, however most of our domesticated animals don't have any protection against rabies should it arrive the way all our other stuff gets here, and the mongoose vector is on every island except Kauai to help it spread quickly. Unlike Dengue or Zika, where most people survive, in the last few thousand years only 8-10 people have been documented to survive getting rabies ( http://abcnews.go.com/Health/california-...d=13830407 )
ETA: dramatic language at the end