The fox responsible for biting people at the U.S. Capitol tests positive for rabies

[iemanja]

A red fox that was captured Tuesday and responsible for biting at least one journalist and a lawmaker has been euthanized, according to health officials in Washington, D.C.

In an email to NPR, the DC Department of Health said Wednesday that there were nine confirmed bites by the adult female fox on Capitol Hill and that it had been "humanely euthanized" to ensure rabies testing could be done.. . .

"[We] just learned people have seen foxes before, but this recent aggressive behavior is unusual," the spokesperson added.

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/05/1091101982/fox-us-capitol-biting-captured-photo

I'm not sure why they need to euthanize a fox to test for rabies. I would think a tranquilizer gun would do.

Now they'll see if the people she bit develop rabies. I hope they are okay.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Hope those bitten are treated for rabies

That is the protocol. Within 24 hours.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

2. If I remember right, and this was a long time ago so I don't know if the examination

has changed, but they have to exam the brain of the animal and the only way to do so is to euthanize it.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. No shit it has rabies; it was out there biting people.

I'm not sure why they need to euthanize a fox to test for rabies. I would think a tranquilizer gun would do.

There is no live animal test for rabies. The test is done on brain tissue from multiple parts of the brain.

[iemanja]

4. Did not know that.

Thanks for the info.

[DBoon]

10. if an unvaccinated dog bites someone, they euthanize the dog...

... remove the head and send it to a lab to test for rabies.

There is no other way.

(described to me by a vet tech who had to do this)

[Brother Buzz]

22. Ah, then it's the vaccinated dog that bites someone gets quarantined for two weeks?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

43. The dog can be quarantined but it has to be quarantined under Veterinarian supervision if unvaxed

I suppose some jurisdictions might handle it differently but this happened to a friend of mine last year here in Cook County Illinois.

My friend brought her dog in for a torn/injured paw. My friend mentioned to the Veterinarian that her dog nipped her when she was trying to look at the dog’s injury.

Because the rabies vaccine was out of date, the Vet. made my friend surrender the dog for a 10 day quarantine. She initially refused and the Vet said the Cook County Sheriff would come and remove the dog from her home.

Had the dog been vaccinated the quarantine could have taken place at home with no doctor supervision.

They charged her through the nose - it was like $200 or $300 per day for the doctor’s-care quarantine.

[DBoon]

50. My niece (the vet tech) is in Ohio

When I speak to her again I can get clarification. In the case she related to me, they did exactly what was described. Maybe the dog was feral or there was some other reason to believe it was high risk

[multigraincracker]

5. I think they need brain matter to test for it.

They did it a favor by killing it. Not a nice way to die. They will get the vaccine either way. There is no cure, in the history of the world only one person has ever lived after getting it.

[iemanja]

6. Wow

I had no idea it was so lethal.

[qazplm135]

9. I think it's up to like three now

but it basically involves teenagers and experimental/radical treatment...so yeah effectively it's 99.9 percent lethal once symptoms start.

[riversedge]

14. yes, brain tissue is needed. I recall awhile ago, a cat had bitten one of my nieces and the dad had

to drive to a larger city with the cat--the head only--the local vet had done the put down and covered the head. It was a wild cat so they were not taking any risks. Turned out negative to everyone's relief.

[multigraincracker]

18. I had a friend that was Animal Control.

She was always cutting off heads.

[riversedge]

21. Not my cup of tea.

[jaxexpat]

17. Glenn Ford, right?

[Norbert]

7. My guess that the people that have been bitten have already started their rabies shots.

My coworker went through this last year with a raccoon biting her. The doctor told her it you wait to catch the raccoon and test it that is too much time wasted and the risk of getting it is far greater.

[herding cats]

8. Worst outcome for all involved.

She had kits and now they'll be euthanized as well. Which will be a kinder end than dying of rabies.

I'm sure all those attacked received shots within the window. Rabies is taken seriously because it's nearly always fatal.

[IcyPeas]

26. I wondered about the kits too.

[abqtommy]

31. Yes. This is all so totally sad. nt

[Quakerfriend]

11. I am sort of shocked that they didn't do this before

it was able to bite 9 people.

Fox don’t just run up and bite people, unless they have rabies. Rabid animals generally die within 72 hrs of contracting the disease.

All who were bitten will have to get a series of rabies shots- not fun!

[Tree-Hugger]

23. Not 72 hours

Rabies can incubate in an animal for a few months before symptoms begin. Once symptoms start it is usually about 5ish days until death, though some hang on for about 2 weeks.

Source: I'm a vet tech with a lot of rabies experience, sadly.

[Quakerfriend]

27. Thank you for the correction w/accurate info.

I did not know this.

[Crunchy Frog]

34. The shots aren't that bad though.

One of my sons got them a few years ago, after he had a close encounter with a bat. He got three shots that day; one in the arm and one in each thigh, then had to go back three more times for a shot in the arm over the next month.

Not fun but not horrible. Not like the old style rabies shots.

[TallMike]

12. Apparently

they named it Rupert.
Oh the irony...

[RKP5637]

20. Yeah, and here I had thought it was a Fox News reporter at first!

[4139]

13. They do have to be dead to test .....

“ order to rule out rabies, the test must include tissue from at least two locations in the brain, preferably the brain stem and cerebellum. The test requires that the animal be euthanized.”
https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/diagnosis/animals-humans.html

[Peacetrain]

15. We had a bat in our bedroom.. and had to have the rabies series

It is not as harsh as it used to be.. You take a number of shots the first week and then I think it was one shot a week for another month.. I would run to get my rabies shots if I were bit by any animal that did not have papers showing it had been vaccinated and thaw would include all wild animals..

[CanonRay]

16. If the poor fox had bitten a Republican

He probably would have died anyway., rabies or not.

[peggysue2]

19. That's not good

Anyone nipped by the fox will need to get the shots. Not pleasant from what I understand but certainly better than dying of rabies.

Bizarre that a rabid fox was on the Capitol steps. Although it does make a good metaphor for what we witnessed last year during the insurrection, rabid Trump supporters attacking our legislative body.

Reminds me of the rabid dog in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Life imitating fiction. Or is it the other way around?

[Thtwudbeme]

29. We had to have the shots in 2013

Not a big deal.

[peggysue2]

30. Really? That's good to hear then

I'd always heard the shots were miserable.

Good to know if I ever run into a rabid animal. Or a rabid Trump supporter.

[Crunchy Frog]

35. They used to be really horrible but they've changed.

[peggysue2]

37. Yeah, that's what I remember

But like everything else, things change and eventually improve in medicine.

Good to know.

[Laurelin]

47. Rabies shots are really easy now

Expensive, if insurance doesn't cover it, but a fairly painless series of shots in the arm. I had them because I worked for a vet and we quarantined animals if they were not vaccinated and bit someone. We had three positives in the six years I worked there. My husband got them when he was bitten by a feral cat. My daughter was required to get them when she started vet school. None of us even had sore arms; flu shots are much worse, for me.

Nobody should be afraid of the shots. In the old days I think they were excruciating and went in the stomach. So glad that's over.

[lagomorph777]

49. The shots, not the Trumpies, right?

Trumpies are still horrible.

[Tree-Hugger]

24. Need the brain for testing. Fox would suffer an awful death

The rabies test uses brain tissue so the animal must be euthanized first. There is no cure for rabies and that fox would suffer an absolutely agonizing death so euthanasia is a very humane option.

I've been responsible for processing rabies specimens. It's.....not pleasant.

[48656c6c6f20]

25. Well if we could slice up a brain and put it back together

That would be an option. But I don't think we are there yet.

[Paladin]

28. Let's see if any of those bite victims are anti-vax. May be too late, regardless.

Rabies is a really shitty way to die.

[AntiFascist]

32. Did it bite Republicans? That would be poetic justice n/t

[Hassin Bin Sober]

44. Where do you think it got the rabies?

[Raine]

45. Actually one of the people bitten was a a Democratic Congressman. nt

[hlthe2b]

33. First, the brain has to be sectioned to test for rabies. Second, yes, post-exposure prophylaxis will

be provided to all who were bitten or significantly exposed to saliva.

[Kali]

36. that's going to cost at least 2 grand apiece for the victims

I had to fight my insurance but they eventually paid.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181373791

[iemanja]

39. ouch

That must have been worrying.

[Kali]

42. it was a little concerning

and it was right when covid was getting going hard around here too. rabies is pretty common in this county so the medical people were familiar, and there was vaccine in stock.

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

38. First thing I thought of, rabies, unnatural for foxes to lose their fear of humans like that

Let alone be aggressive, big warning sign

[Meowmee]

40. They can only test by tissue from the brain when the carrier is not alive as far as I know

In critters anyway. I am not really sure why now because in people with suspected rabies they are antibody tested.

The people bitten should have received rpep right away anyway in this case which will prevent them from getting symptomatic rabies and dying. Even if they receive it now chances are they will be ok. Usually it is recommended within 24-48 hours after exposure.

I just wonder how this poor fox was exposed.

[LeftInTX]

41. Yikes!

When we had an epidemic of canine rabies in Texas, they dropped aerial vaccine in bait. Canine rabies is apparently the worst.

Wished it would have bitten a bunch of anti-vaxxer Republicans!

Rabies is always fatal.

[Kali]

48. apparently there have been a number of known survivors

but very rare.

this article is about one and mentions 13.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4947331/

[liberal_mama]

46. A family member of mine works at a public health agency in New York State

They send the heads of the animals to Albany for testing. I wish there was a test where the animal doesn't have to be killed.