Best practices for nuisance wildlife control operators in New York State

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Ch 4: Section four: What you need to know about wildlife diseases

Rabies

What to expect from the rabies lab (Wadsworth Center, in Albany)

1. You must contact the local health authority before submitting a specimen to the lab. If the specimen is going to be shipped, they'll explain how to package and send it.
    
2. The Rabies Laboratory operates from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Specimens received evenings, weekends, or holidays are processed the next regular workday. Emergency weekend or holiday examinations must be arranged by the local health authority.
    
3. The lab routinely faxes results to the local health office the next morning (if it's a workday). The local health office notifies everyone else. Except for emergencies and late Friday submissions, local health offices are not supposed to call the laboratory for results.
    
4. Do not submit live animals. The lab will only accept approved specimens, and then only the intact head. Exceptions include bats, which should be submitted whole, and livestock. Some veterinarians will offer to prepare the livestock specimen.
    
5. Acceptable specimens include only:
   1. rabies suspect mammals for which there has been a reported human exposure (bite, scratch, or contact with saliva or nervous tissue).
   2. all bats encountered in situations where it's probable that people wouldn't realize they had contact with a bat.
   3. rabies suspect mammals with reported bites to (or other "intimate" contact with) a domestic animal.
   4. highly suspect animals that are under surveillance (but there have been no reported contacts), including (i) a member of a rabies vector species showing clear signs of rabies infection, from an area without previous confirmed cases; (ii) a mammal not commonly recognized as a rabies vector, but showing clear signs of rabies infection; (iii) a domestic animal with a neurological disorder that dies or is euthanized under the care of a veterinarian (if the vet suspects rabies).
   5. specimens associated with approved surveillance programs that are part of wildlife vaccination trials.
    
6. Emergency specimens may be delivered at all times directly to the Rabies Laboratory at Griffin Laboratory on Route 155 in the town of Guilderland (2 miles west of Route 20). Emergency examinations are performed by prior arrangement of the local health authority and the laboratory. Such specimens must arrive at the rabies laboratory before 11:00 a.m. to be tested the same day, and should be accompanied by telephone numbers of the after-hour contact to receive results.

What qualifies as a rabies emergency?

1. All cases of direct human contact with a bat, when bite or mucous membrane contact cannot be ruled out;
    
2. Cases in which an animal that is very likely infected with rabies has bitten a person, and the doctor is waiting for the results before beginning treatment. "Very likely infected" is determined by the animal's species, behavior, and the location of its capture.

Questions regarding submission of specimens should be directed to the Rabies Laboratory:
weekdays (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.): (518) 869-4527
after hours: (518) 527-7369 or (518) 527-7370

Questions about the handling of animal bites should first be directed to your local/county health department (see government listings in the phone book). The New York State Department of Health Zoonoses Program can also help, and can be reached at:
weekdays (8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.): (518) 474-3186
after hours: (518) 527-7369 or (518) 465-9720

For more information about rabies

• CDC - National Center of Infectious Disease - Rabies: Home
   
• Wadsworth Center - The Rabies Laboratory
   
• New York State Department of Health - Info for Consumers - Rabies Information
   
• New York State Department of Health - Info for Consumers - Zoonoses Program

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