3 ms·

Back in the 1980s, a Marine at Quantico made the mistake of picking up a sick raccoon--one heard a lot about rabid raccoons in the area then, but I guess he had

by cafard 2y ago

Back in the 1980s, a Marine at Quantico made the mistake of picking up a sick raccoon--one heard a lot about rabid raccoons in the area then, but I guess he hadn't. He developed rabies, and survived.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> He developed rabies, and survived Certainly not. I'd have said almost certainly had this been a civilian. But the fact that it was an on-duty Marine gives this a 0% chance of not being reported.
- Mordisquitos 2y ago
  Furthermore, there is a high chance that a Marine in active service would have already received the rabies vaccine as prophylaxis: https://health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Health-Readiness/Immunization-Healthcare/Vaccine-Recommendations/Vaccine-Recommendations-by-AOR https://health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Health-Readiness/I...
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > there is a high chance that a Marine in active service would have already received the rabies vaccine as prophylaxis Then they wouldn't have developed rabies. There was no Marine who got rabies at Quantico from a raccoon in the 80s who recovered.
  - matteoraso 2y ago
    You still need to get the vaccine after getting bitten, pre-exposure prophylaxis just reduces the amount that you need afterwards. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies
- cafard 2y ago
  Here is what a search of The Washington Post yields: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/03/18/suspected-rabies-case-here-brings-warning-about-contact-with-animals/7276bdbd-8a2c-45f5-8efc-8044f4f0b456/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/03/18/susp...
  - perihelions 2y ago
    But, also: "None of the tests for rabies and a host of other viral infections has proved positive". - "We know that we had a neurological disease that was probably caused by a virus," Bernard said, adding that the lack of a positive lab test made it "highly unlikely" that the Marine had rabies." - "Throughout his illness, he had a disease compatible with rabies," he said. "We don't know what it is so we can't say what it isn't until we know what it is." https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/06/02/suspected-rabies-patient-recovers/d3d658f5-8f1c-4e4c-9e9c-44eee23a9cb7/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/06/02/susp...
tzs 2y ago
Marines are often not from the area where they are stationed. If he was from somewhere in the Western US he may not have thought of raccoons as a rabies risk. Rabies is not established in the raccoon populations of California, Oregon, or Washington so the only rabid raccoons you might find are ones that recently got it from a bat or (in California) a skunk. In California that works out to around 4 rabid raccoons found every 20 years or so. In Oregon no rabid raccoons have been documented in at least 50 years. In Washington no rabid raccoons have ever been documented.
javawizard 2y ago
Citation most definitely needed for this one.

by cafard 2y ago

Back in the 1980s, a Marine at Quantico made the mistake of picking up a sick raccoon--one heard a lot about rabid raccoons in the area then, but I guess he hadn't. He developed rabies, and survived.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago

> He developed rabies, and survived Certainly not. I'd have said almost certainly had this been a civilian. But the fact that it was an on-duty Marine gives this a 0% chance of not being reported.

Mordisquitos 2y ago
Furthermore, there is a high chance that a Marine in active service would have already received the rabies vaccine as prophylaxis: https://health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Health-Readiness/Immunization-Healthcare/Vaccine-Recommendations/Vaccine-Recommendations-by-AOR https://health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Health-Readiness/I...
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > there is a high chance that a Marine in active service would have already received the rabies vaccine as prophylaxis Then they wouldn't have developed rabies. There was no Marine who got rabies at Quantico from a raccoon in the 80s who recovered.
- matteoraso 2y ago
  You still need to get the vaccine after getting bitten, pre-exposure prophylaxis just reduces the amount that you need afterwards. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies
cafard 2y ago
Here is what a search of The Washington Post yields: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/03/18/suspected-rabies-case-here-brings-warning-about-contact-with-animals/7276bdbd-8a2c-45f5-8efc-8044f4f0b456/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/03/18/susp...
- perihelions 2y ago
  But, also: "None of the tests for rabies and a host of other viral infections has proved positive". - "We know that we had a neurological disease that was probably caused by a virus," Bernard said, adding that the lack of a positive lab test made it "highly unlikely" that the Marine had rabies." - "Throughout his illness, he had a disease compatible with rabies," he said. "We don't know what it is so we can't say what it isn't until we know what it is." https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/06/02/suspected-rabies-patient-recovers/d3d658f5-8f1c-4e4c-9e9c-44eee23a9cb7/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/06/02/susp...

tzs 2y ago

Marines are often not from the area where they are stationed. If he was from somewhere in the Western US he may not have thought of raccoons as a rabies risk. Rabies is not established in the raccoon populations of California, Oregon, or Washington so the only rabid raccoons you might find are ones that recently got it from a bat or (in California) a skunk. In California that works out to around 4 rabid raccoons found every 20 years or so. In Oregon no rabid raccoons have been documented in at least 50 years. In Washington no rabid raccoons have ever been documented.

javawizard 2y ago

Citation most definitely needed for this one.