Environmental health

Rabies is a notifiable viral infection of the central nervous system, which can affect almost all mammals, including humans.

The disease is invariably fatal once clinical signs develop. It has been recorded in most warm-blooded animals, both domesticated and wild. Man in turn has become exposed to the disease through contact with infected animals.

The disease can be caught when a person is bitten by an infected animal (including other humans) or when saliva enters an open wound. Cases of indirect transmission have been recorded when infected saliva has been brought into contact with open skin. The incubation period can last from a few days to several months but once the symptoms show, the disease is almost always fatal. The only hope is immunisation during incubation but this is far from guaranteed to succeed.

Apart from the immediate danger to health, the cost of controlling an outbreak of the disease would be immense.

In Britain, the fox is regarded as the most likely carrier in wild animals but most small wild animals, domesticated cats and dogs and farm animals can be infected. A different strain of rabies is transmitted by certain species of bats.

Positive action in Europe has seen a great reduction in reported rabies cases in recent years. However, there are parts of the world where rabies is still endemic. Fortunately, Britain has been protected by the natural barrier of the English Channel and by strict animal import laws combined with quarantine restrictions or animal passports.

Under the Animal Health Act 1981, the illegal importation of animals is an offence punishable by unlimited fines and imprisonment.

Every effort is made to keep out rabies, from publicity campaigns by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) (www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/rabies/index.htm) to combat the smuggling of animals, to physical measures in the Channel Tunnel to stop wild animals and strays reaching Britain.

In any rabies alert, the Medway Safer Communities Officers, in conjunction with the Trading Standards Team and other agencies, would take action to control and eliminate the outbreak.

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