Cost of One Rabid Kitten

Little could anyone have known that a sick kitten could be so costly. This is Dr. Steven Andrew Davis, Speaking of Health. A New Hampshire kitten has achieved notoriety. After being purchased from a pet store in Concord, New Hampshire, the kitten died from rabies. The aftermath resulted in 665 people receiving post exposure preventive treatments, consisting of one dose rabies immune globulin and 5 doses of rabies vaccine. The total price tag: 1 and ½ million dollars.

One reason the price ran so high was because the pet store did not keep records for kittens acquired for sale, such as their origin and date of arrival. Investigation showed that the strain of rabies seen in the kitten was similar to that typically found in raccoons and indeed, health officials did find a raccoon which tested positive for rabies in a suburb of Concord where the kitten was suspected to have originated. Raccoons are common carriers of rabies with nearly 6,000 raccoons confirmed with rabies in 1993 in the Eastern U.S.

This New Hampshire mass inoculation to prevent rabies in humans has federal health officials giving pet stores some reminders: to keep adequate records of health certificates, source identification and sales receipts for animals sold; to keep animals from roaming freely through pet stores and from contacting large numbers of customers; and to be particularly careful to have animals acquired from the wild vaccinated and examined before being sold. Speaking of Health, I’m Dr. Steven Andrew Davis for CBS News. For a copy of this script and journal reference, access our web site, www.speakingofhealth.com

Ref: MMWR, July 7, 1995, Vol.44, No.26