By E. J. Mundell
NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Reuters Health) -- When initial test results suggested that a bear cub at an Iowa petting zoo might have died this summer from rabies, local health officials moved quickly to contact all persons known to have been in close contact with the animal.
But additional testing has eliminated rabies as the cause of the bear's death. Still, experts say the Iowa incident has provided heath officials with valuable lessons into dealing with similar crises in the future.
"When you look at their response to what happened, I think it's quite impressive," said Dr. Robert Gibbons of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
As reported by Reuters Health, initial tests conducted in late August on the bear's brain tissue indicated that animal had succumbed to rabies. Iowa health officials immediately set to work tracking down the more than 400 persons thought to have been in physical contact with the bear either at the petting zoo or during local barnwarming festivities. All individuals contacted were advised to begin the standard series of anti-rabies shots as soon as possible.
However, a second round of tests conducted a few days later confirmed that the bear had not contracted rabies, as was previously thought.
Speaking with Reuters Health, Gibbons said he applauded the Iowa Department of Public Health's reaction to the crisis. He said that when it comes to rabies -- for which there is no treatment, leading to a 100% fatality rate once symptoms appear -- it's "better to be safe than sorry."
The CDC expert points out that since current procedures were first introduced in 1958, animal tissue testing has proven so accurate that not one human has died from rabies because of an erroneous test result.
He also believes that when tests come up negative for rabies "you can be very confident that you don't need to... start post-exposure (vaccination)" in humans. Ideally, unnecessary rabies vaccination is best avoided -- besides the discomfort to patients of repeat inoculation, the complete series of shots can cost upwards of $2,000.
Gibbons believes health authorities in Iowa acted appropriately when faced with what later turned out to be a false-positive test result. "I thought it was an impressive public health response," he said, noting that health officials used "a combination of resources to (contact) people across a number of states, even in Australia."
"The main message from (the CDC) is that rabies testing in the United States is excellent, and that people can continue to rely on that," Gibbons concluded.
He added that, to his knowledge, the exact cause of the bear's death has not yet been determined.
