> From: "Brian J. McGovern" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Ferret bite statistics...
>
> In a recent FML posting, someone mentioned bite statistics for Ferrets being
> 65 per year, compared to some 2 million dog attacks. I thought I had read
A good source is the JAVMA Public Veterinary Health reports.
In the state of California alone, in 1991 for an example, we had a total of
71,750 animal bites reported. Of these only 8,993 were tested for rabies.
Of these animals that were reported as biting humans that year, there were
11,259 cat bites
437 bites by other domestic animals
1,152 wild animal bites
38,760 dog bites
Those that were tested for rabies in California in 1991
Species - total - tested pos for rabies
Badger 3 1
Bat 1207 106
Bobcat 3 0
Cat 2673 7
Cattle 48 4
Chipmunk 2 0
Coyote 45 0
Deer 6 0
Ferret 18 0
Fox-red 3 1
Fox-grey 27 15
Fox-not specified 90 14
Goat 13 0
Gopher 35 0
Hampster 6 0
Horse 40 1
Mouse-wild 9 0
Mouse-pet - -
Mouse-not specified 15 0
Muskrat 8 0
Opossum 663 1 (this one is posibly a false result)
(Marsupials are not known to get rabies)
Pig 3 0
Rabbit 18 0
Raccoon 278 0
Rat-Wild 7 0
Rat-Pet 3 0
Rat-not specified 29 0
Rodent-not specified 2 0
Sheep 9 0
Skunk-Striped 473 14
Skunk-Spotted 2 1
Skunk-not specified 1033 343
Squirrel-Ground 6 0
Squirrel-Tree 5 0
Squirrel-not specified 49 0
Weasel 5 0
Other 16 0
(other includes Bear (4), Chinchilla (1), Fisher (1), Llama (1), Mink (1),
Mountain Lion (1), Mule (2), Otter (1), Owl (1), Porcupine (1), Ring tailed cat
(1), Unidentified (1). )
Remember, the above is for just California in 1991.
I don't have the total number of animal bites for the whole USA, but I do
have the numbers of animals that tested positive for rabies of those tested
in 1991.
Total number of rabid animals for 1991 was 6,975. This includes.
Dogs 155
Cats 189
Cattle 217
Horses/Mules 44
Sheep/Goats 10
Swine 1
Other domestics* 2
Shunks 2,073
Foxes 318
Bats 690
Raccoons 3,079
Rodents and Lagomorphs** 63
Other wild*** 131
Humans 3
* 2 llamas
** 55 groundhogs, 1 nutria, 3 beavers, 2 rabbits, 1 squirrel and 1 porcupine.
*** 50 coyotes, 2 wolves, 1 badger, 4 opossums, 8 deer, 5 bobcats, 2 otters,
1 bear and 54 mongooses.
Cases of ferret rabies are quite rare. There were none in 1991 and no more
then 2 cases in a year for most other years.
Noting the high numbers of cattle with rabies, the Farm Bureau is foolish to
worry about rabid ferrets.
[Moderator's note: And just how do you think the cattle contracted rabies
in the first place? BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1236]
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