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 1
Human rabies postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), New York State, 1993-94a
| Nonbite (N=818) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animal source | Bite (N=355) N (%) | Directb | Indirectc Saliva N (%) | Overall total PEP N (%) | |||
| Scratch N ( %) | Saliva N (%) | NT N (%) | Blood N (%) | ||||
| Raccoon | 37 (10) | 18 (33) | 44 (29) | 4 (67) | 13 (93) | 472d (79) | 589e (50) |
| Bat (all species) | 29 (8) | 3 (6) | 12 (8) | 1 (17) | 0 (0) | 9 (2) | 54 (5) |
| Other wild species | 24 (7) | 5 (11) | 21 (14) | 0 (0) | 1 (7) | 89 (15) | 140 (12) |
| All wild species | 90 (25) | 26 (47) | 77 (51) | 5 (84) | 14 (100) | 570 (96) | 783 (67) |
| Cat | 114 (32) | 29 (53) | 41 (28) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 21 (4) | 205 (17) |
| Dog | 151 (43) | 0 (0) | 13 (9) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (<1) | 165 (14) |
| Other domestic species | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 19 (13) | 1 (17) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 20 (2) |
| All domestic species | 265 (75) | 29 (53) | 73 (49) | 1 (17) | 0 (0) | 22 (4) | 390 (33) |
| Total | 355 (30) | 55 (55) | 150 (13) | 6 (0.5) | 14 (1) | 592 (51) | 1,173 (100) |
aData are from Cayuga, Monroe, Onondaga, and Wayne Counties.
bDirect contamination of an open wound or mucous membrane with potentially infectious material such as saliva, nervous tissue (NT), or blood (mixed with other body fluids), from a rabies-suspect or known-rabid animal.
cNo direct contact with a rabid or suspect-rabid animal. Indirect exposure through possible conveyance of saliva on an animal (i.e., pet dog or cat) or inanimate object resulting in contamination of an open wound or mucous membrane.
dp < 0.001. More people received PEP after indirect exposure to saliva from raccoons than from any other species (472 PEP cases due to indirect contact with 261 raccoons).
eTotal PEP cases with raccoon as an exposure source (includes one case with no reported route of exposure).