Rabies Supplemental Information for
Law Enforcement Officers
Topics
• How do you know if you (or someone else) has
been exposed to rabies?
• Quarantines: Dogs, Cats, and Ferrets Only
• Other mammals that expose humans
• Assisting with animal capture
• Animal rabies testing in Iowa
• Vaccination requirements
• Case examples
• Frequently asked questions
How do you know if you or someone else
has been exposed to rabies?
The rabies virus is transmitted through saliva or
nervous system tissue.
• What is considered an exposure?
– Bite from a potentially infected animal
– Saliva or nervous tissue contact to open wounds
– Saliva or nervous tissue contact to mucous membranes (eyes,
nose, mouth)
• What is not considered exposure?
– Saliva or nervous tissue contact to INTACT SKIN
– Contact with blood, urine, or feces
– Touching or petting an animal
Bat-specific exposure criteria
• Exposure criteria for bats include all those listed
on the previous slide and the following:
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Waking up to find a bat in the room you are sleeping in
Finding a bat in a room with an unsupervised child
Finding a bat in a room with incapacitated person
Contact with a bat and unsure whether you were bitten
(i.e. bat flies into your arm)
• Exposure criteria is not based upon finding a
potential wound
Quarantines / Confinement
• When a dog, cat, or ferret exposes a human, it
can be quarantined for 10 days (in lieu of
euthanasia and testing) .
– Dogs, cats, and ferrets are the only animals that can
be quarantined
• If the animal becomes sick with signs of rabies
during the 10 day quarantine it should be
euthanized and tested immediately
• If the animal is healthy at the end of the 10 day
quarantine, it did not pass rabies to the person it
exposed
Confinement Related State Laws
Iowa Code: Chapter 351.39 Confinement
• If a local board of health receives information that an
animal has bitten a person or that a dog or animal is
suspected of having rabies, the board shall order the
owner to confine such animal in the manner it directs.
• If the owner fails to confine such animal in the manner
directed, the animal shall be apprehended and
impounded by such board, and after ten days the
board may humanely destroy the animal.
• If such animal is returned to its owner, the owner shall
pay the cost of impoundment.
Confinement Related State Laws
351.36 Enforcement.
• Local health and law enforcement officials
shall enforce the provisions of sections 351.33
to 351.43 relating to vaccination and
impoundment of dogs. Such public officials
shall not be responsible for any accident or
disease of a dog resulting from the
enforcement of the provisions of said sections.
In-Home vs. In-Clinic/Shelter Quarantine
• Local decision based on your county’s /
municipality’s procedures
– Some counties / municipalities base decision on
the following factors:
• Vaccination status of the dog, cat, or ferret
• Whether the owners seem trustworthy
• Whether the owners have adequate facilities to
quarantine / confine
What if you don’t have the
dog, cat, or ferret?
• If you may be able to find the animal and can
positively identify it, it may be reasonable to
wait up to 72 hours from the time of the
exposure to find and capture it.
• If you don’t find it after 72 hours or you can
not positively identify the animal, rabies shots
are usually recommended for those exposed.
Other mammals
• Can not be quarantined because we don’t
know how the disease effects them.
• If there is a human exposure, in most cases
the animal will need to be tested.
– If the animal is not available for testing (ie. the bat
flies out the window), rabies shots may be
recommended for the people exposed.
Assisting with animal capture
• Ask whether there was a human exposure
before letting it go. As animals that expose
humans will likely need to be tested or
quarantined.
• Do not shoot the animal in the head if it needs
to be tested for rabies
• If you are capturing a bat for rabies testing, try
to do so gently. If there is excessive trauma
the specimen may not be testable.
Animal Rabies Testing
• State Hygienic Laboratory, Iowa City
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800-421-4692
Available for after-hours or emergency testing
Only test animals that have exposed humans
Testing is Free
• Iowa State University, Veterinary Diagnostic
Laboratory, Ames
– 515-294-1950
– Human and animal-to-animal exposures
– Fees for testing
State Law Requiring Rabies Vaccination
• All dogs six months of age and older should be
vaccinated.
– Dogs kept in kennels and not allowed to run at large
are not subject to these vaccination requirements.
• Some counties and municipalities have more
restrictive laws that require other species, like
cats for example, to be vaccinated at well.
• It is recommended that all pets and valuable
livestock be vaccinated against rabies.
Case Example #1
A small child is riding his bike down the street
and is bitten in the leg by a stray dog.
Questions:
1) Do you have the dog?
2) If not, could the child positively identify the
dog if you were to capture it?
Case Example #2
A person calls you to help them capture a bat
in their home
Was anyone exposed to the bat?
If exposure occurred, test the bat.
Frequently Asked Question
• If a dog bites someone but is current on its
rabies vaccine do we still need to quarantine it
for 10 days?
• YES
Frequently Asked Question
What if we don’t have the dog, cat, or ferret that
has exposed a human, but think we will find it
soon?
• Generally, if the animal is not available for
quarantine (for example a dog jumps the fence,
bites the neighbor, and runs away) but you think
it will be found and it can be positively identified
as the animal that exposed the human, you can
wait up to 72 hours from the time of the bite.
– If you haven’t found the animal after 72 hours, usually
rabies shots are recommended for the person
exposed.
Frequently Asked Question
• If the authority to mandate a 10 day quarantine falls to
local boards of health, can local law enforcement be
involved in enforcement of the quarantine?
Yes, according to Iowa Code Chapter 351. Local health
and law enforcement officials shall enforce the
provisions of sections 351.33 to 351.43 (this includes
the confinement law) relating to vaccination and
impoundment of dogs. Such public officials shall not
be responsible for any accident or disease of a dog
resulting from the enforcement of the provisions of
said sections.
Contact Information
• Iowa Department of Public Health
– Can provide the national recommendations for
assessing rabies exposures, giving rabies post
exposure treatment, and testing animals.
– Available for 24/7 consultation
• Business hours – 800-362-2736
• After hours – 515-323-4360 (this will connect with State
Patrol Dispatch, tell them you have a rabies question
for public health and the on-call epidemiologist will call
you back).
Additional Resources
• Iowa Rabies Manual
• List of Local Points of Contact for Rabies
Quarantine Enforcement