Officially, France is considered free of rabies (with the exception of bats): this infectious disease (caused by a Lyssavirus) remains however very present on the African and Asian continents, where it is responsible for approximately 59,000 deaths per year.
This Thursday, October 27, 2022, the Institut Pasteur confirmed the detection of a case of rabies in Île-de-France, in a Husky cross dog living in a shelter in Évry-Courcouronnes (91). “Given the incubation period [entre 20 et 60 jours], the dog had necessarily contracted rabies before arriving at the shelter“says the Pasteur Institute in a press release.
4 years old and probably illegally imported from Morocco (where the disease is circulating), the animal had been showing symptoms of rabies since October 19, 2022: he unfortunately died a week later, on October 25, 2022. “The animal bit several people who were quickly taken care of by the rabies center of the Institut Pasteur” : A “highly effective post-exposure prophylaxis“was administered to them.
A virus that disrupts the functioning of certain neurons
You visited the Assistance Refuge Animaux (ARA) shelter located at 1, rue des Paveurs in Évry-Courcouronnes between October 4 and 25, and you were in contact with this sick dog by “scratching, biting, licking on wound or damaged skin or on mucous membrane“? If you have not already been contacted by the ARS Île-de-France, call 0 800 811 411. Note: rabies is not contagious between humans, and the virus is not transmitted not via animal petting.
As the Pasteur Institute explains, rabies is always fatal once the first signs of the disease have been declared: the virus disrupts the functioning of neurons, in particular those which regulate cardiac activity and respiration. On the other hand, “preventive treatment for human rabies is most effective if given after contact with the carrier animal, but before symptoms appearThis treatment consists of vaccination and (possibly) serotherapy.
Source : Pastor Institute
