Volume 5, Number 3—June 1999
Research
Human Rabies Postexposure Prophylaxis during a Raccoon Rabies Epizootic in New York, 1993 and 1994
, William H. Barker*, Nancy M. Bennett†, and Cathleen A. Hanlon‡
Table 2
Human rabies postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) in New York State, 1993-94: urban and rural settingsa
| Urban | Rural | All four counties | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animal source | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | |
| Dogb | 137 (18) | 28 (7) | 165 (14) | |
| Cat | 130 (17) | 75 (18) | 205 (17) | |
| Other domestic speciesc | 5 (<1) | 15 (4) | 20 (2) | |
| All domestic species | 272 (35) | 118 (28) | 390 (33) | |
| Raccoon | 41 (45) | 248 (59) | 589 (50) | |
| Bat (all species) | 41 (5) | 13 (1) | 54 (5) | |
| Striped skunk | 29 (4) | 6 (<1) | 35 (3) | |
| Fox 19 (3) | 9 (2) | 28 (2) | ||
| Other wild speciesd | 51 (4) | 26 (2) | 77 (7) | |
| All wild species | 481 (65) | 302 (72) | 783 (67) | |
| Total | 753 | 420 | 1,173 | |
| Rate per 100,000 pop. | 32 | 123 | 43 |
aCharacteristics of human rabies PEP cases reported to the health departments of the two relatively urbanized counties, Onondaga and Monroe, and the two relatively rural counties Cayuga and Wayne, during 1993 and 1994.
bp < 0.00. Human PEP rates due to dog exposures were significantly higher in urban counties.
cOther domestic species include 2 and 3 PEP cases due to cow and horse exposure in the urban counties and 10 and 5 cases due to cow and domestic rabbit exposure in the rural counties, respectively.
dOther wild species includes 17, 6, 4, 2, 2, and 1 PEP cases due to an unknown animal type, wild rodent (other than woodchuck), 4 Sika deer (exotic, captive species), opossum, coyote, and mink in the urban counties and 17 and 3 PEP cases due to an unknown animal type and wild rodent (other than woodchuck) in the rural counties, respectively