2004 Rabies Annual Summary
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Director, Rabies Laboratory
Richard Raczkowski:
Asst. Director, Rabies Laboratory
518-869-4527
Please contact us (518-869-4527) for data tables and image maps in an alternate format.
- Introduction
- Raccoon Rabies in Nassau County
- Rabies in Wildlife
- Rabid Otter
- Rabies in Domestic Animals
- 2004 Raccoon Rabies Map (GIF 49K)
- 2004 Bat Rabies Map (GIF 47K)
- 2004 Rabies Incidence Map (PDF 240K)
- Additional 2004 Rabies Data
Introduction
In 2004 rabies continued to be recognized as a well entrenched endemic disease in New York State. Terrestrial wildlife rabies, a result of the raccoon rabies enzootic, was identified in animals from 51 of the 62 counties in the state. In upstate New York terrestrial rabies was not identified in Chautauqua, Lewis, Hamilton, Franklin, Clinton and Essex counties. Suffolk County on Long Island and Richmond (Staten Island), Kings, Queens and New York (Manhattan) were also without reports of terrestrial rabies cases in 2004. The Wadsworth Center rabies diagnostic laboratory tested 8,459 animals during 2004. This number is 223 specimens greater than the 2003 total. The 546 confirmed rabid animals represent an increase of 117 over the total in the previous year. An increase in wildlife rabies cases was observed in 23 counties that had experienced endemic wildlife rabies for at least five years, compared to 8 counties that had an increase in 2003. These increases are attributable to natural fluctuations seen in wildlife rabies cases as animal rabies vector populations rebound from the previous reductions due to rabies mortality.
Raccoon Rabies in Nassau County
Raccoon rabies emerged in northern Nassau County in mid-summer 2004. When raccoon rabies was identified in Queens County on the western end of Long Island in 1993 it was anticipated that eastward spread into a contiguous Nassau County may quickly follow. However, this was not observed. As rabies in raccoons has not been regularly or recently reported in Queens during the intervening eleven years, it is likely that its appearance in Nassau County now was the result of an introduction rather than spread. Between August 9 and December 2, 2004, a total of ten rabid raccoons were amongst the 652 animals tested from Nassau County. These animals were part of an enhanced surveillance program that was promptly initiated after the first rabid raccoon was seen in early August. Extensive efforts at raccoon vaccination are underway in an attempt to prevent the further spread of the disease throughout Long Island with a coordinated effort of county, state and federal officials.
Rabies in Wildlife
Greater than 50 species of animals were submitted to the Wadsworth laboratory for rabies diagnosis in 2004. Specimens were received from all 57 counties in New York, and from Bronx County in New York City. The New York City rabies diagnostic laboratory examined 406 animals for rabies, finding 14 (3.4%) positive for rabies.
The 118 laboratory confirmed rabid bats in 2004 is the second largest number in the history of the laboratory and just six below the 124 reported in 2000. However, the number of positive rabid bats comprised 3.2% of the 3,592 bats received for diagnosis, a positivity rate equal to the average for the previous 10 year period. Bats received comprised 42.4% of all animals tested during the year. The laboratory also examined 1,560 cats (18.4% of all animals tested), 1,321 raccoons (15.6%), 759 dogs (8.9%), 337 skunks (4.0%), 136 foxes (1.6%), 99 woodchucks (1.1%), 87 deer (1.0%) 86 cattle (1.0%) 58 squirrels, 39 horses and 33 goats.
Rabid wildlife accounted for 96% of all rabid animals in New York State during 2004. The 526 rabid wild animals included 264 raccoons (48.2% of all rabid wild animals), 118 bats (21.5%), 104 skunks (19.0%), 25 grey fox (4.6%), 5 red fox (0.91%) 5 woodchucks (0.91%), 3 white tail deer, one coyote and one otter. There were 68 grey fox submitted for rabies diagnosis during the year. With a positivity rate of 36.8% grey foxes were the animals most likely to be rabid of all tested animals. They were followed by skunks (30.5% positivity rate), raccoons (19.1%), pipistrelle bats (16.6%), red bats (15%), red fox (7.6%) and big brown bats (4.2%).
Of the rabid bats diagnosed at the Wadsworth laboratory 19% had contact with humans, 13% had contact with a cat and 14.7% had contact with a dog. Of the rabid raccoons tested, 24% had contact with a human, 7.5% had contact with a cat and more than half (53.3%) had contact with a dog.
Rabid Otter
The rabid otter story took on the sensationalism usually reserved for the stories accompanying the aggressiveness of rabid grey foxes. The otter swam up to and attacked a six year old child who was swimming at a public beach in Putnam County. The child emerged from the water with the otter clinging by its teeth, embedded in the boys arm. It required the actions of several people to dislodge the animal from the child, who received rabies post exposure prophylaxis. Monoclonal antibody typing identified the virus in the otter as the raccoon rabies variant.
Rabies in Domestic Animals
The 22 laboratory confirmed rabies-infected domestic animals in the state during the year were the smallest number since raccoon rabies entered the state in 1990. The cases included 19 cats, two bovines and one dog. As in previous years, the number of rabid cats eclipsed the number of rabid dogs. It is likely that this is largely the result of difficulties encountered with licensure, control and vaccination of cat populations and the success of vaccination clinics at reducing rabies in dogs. The 19 cases of rabies in cats were identified from ten counties in the state and represent 1.2% of all cats tested for rabies during the year.
(New York City data provided by Dr. Igbal Poshni, Director, Virus Laboratory, New York City Department of Health)