Press Release
Buncombe County Health & Human Service
Whether you are in your home, walking in your neighborhood or hiking on a trail, it is important to know what to do if there’s a chance you have been exposed to rabies. Rabies is caused by a virus that is spread through the saliva of an infected animal. Even tiny breaks in the skin allow the rabies virus to spread from the infected animal to humans and other animals. Taking the right action can make a big difference in keeping yourself, your pets and our community safe from rabies.
Treatment for rabies is very costly and is not covered by all health insurance plans. Health Director, Gibbie Harris, reports that when someone has been potentially exposed to rabies, it is crucial for health officials to be able to assess the risk of exposure by testing or quarantining the identified animal. This is why it is very important for the public to know that they should get help from Animal Control to capture and remove the animal rather than to let it go.
In 2013, Buncombe County Health and Human Services reported 843 animal bites that required investigation by Disease Control Nurses to help victims determine if they were exposed to rabies. Over 20 people received rabies prevention care (clinically known as post-exposure prophylaxis – PEP).
According to Gibbie Harris, Buncombe County Health Director, the two most common mistakes people make are 1) letting a bat outside, leaving no way to test the bat for rabies; and 2) not having information that helps us investigate whether an animal that bit them or their pet was properly vaccinated.
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