Summer - United States Special Operations Command

and twenty-eight. Rabies immune globulin (RIG) is administeredonly once, to previously unvaccinated individuals, andshould be administered as soon as possible after exposure.The dog or cat that bit the servicemember should bequarantined for up to ten days of observation to see if theywill exhibit signs of rabies. If the animal exhibits signs ofrabies, then it should be euthanized by the closest militaryveterinary treatment facility or authorized contract agency,and the head submitted for definitive testing. Any animalother that a cat or dog that bites a servicemember will be immediatelyeuthanized and the head submitted for testing. Thepreferred method of euthanasia is an injection of euthanasiasolution. If euthanasia solution is unavailable, then any approvedmethod that preserves the brain should be used.A discussion of rabies testing submission procedurescan be found in the Command Veterinarian column.Link to CDC, Human rabies prevention-U.S.http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5703a1.htm.*Editor’s note: The 5th Edition of Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicineadvises (p 1218) us not to trust reports of vaccination of dogs in foreigncountries as … “fatal rabies has been reported in U.S. citizensand in others who were bitten by “vaccinated” dogs in developingcountries.” On this same page, the former Chief of the Viral and RickettsialZoonoses Branch of the CDC advises us that “… local treatment[i.e., cleansing wound with soap and water] is perhaps the singlemost effective means of preventing rabies.”TSOC Surgeon 95