Is there anyway of contracting this in this business Im beginning to try to mount some mammals just wondering thanks Ed
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If your working with foxes, coons and etc and they have the disease you can get it if you cut yourself or have an open wound. I have heard that after 24 hours of the animal being frozen that this kills the rabies but no studies that I have heard of really confirms this. So to be on the safe side always and I do meen ALWAYS wear latex or nitrle gloves and also Steve from Epo-Grip has and I'm not sure if he still has a lotion that you rub on your hands. This will kill the rabies. I still have some that he sent me and still use it when I get questionable animals in.
It's the other prevalent diseases that canids and cats carry that should worry you more. Rabies is vectored most often through saliva and is especially slow moving as it infects the brain. Freezing kills it, so and EXTRA precaution to the gloves you should be wearing every day is to freeze the animal solid before thawing and working on it. If saliva from a rabid animal finds any entry point (cuts and nicks in hands, mucous membranes, etc.) you can be infected. That's why I've taken the rabies innoculation series (NOT PAINFUL) and get tested each year for titer so I can get a booster shot if necessary.
First off rabies is a virus that affects mammals and it can KILL you so I would suggest you go and get the facts from the pros . A good place to start would be your vet, get the story from him / her and than go to your doctor
I did this year ago and as to the information I got than from researchers and doctors is, the rabies virus is NOT killed when frozen and you can contact the virus threw fluids of the infected mammal (only carried by mammals) to open wounds (cuts, nicks, scratches) or threw mucus membranes (nose, eyes, mouth) the only way I am aware of to kill the virus is to dry it (when it comes to a mammal you want to mount) high heats and or disinfectants such as bleach should kill it in your work area
I would suggest first off if you even suspect something is infected don"t bother with it, is your life really worth it? Or do you need the work that badly? Next if you are going to work with the high-risk mammals such as foxes and skunks you should consider getting your self vaccinated, very similar to the way your dog gets it. This I would suggest you discuss with your doctor.
Get the facts from the people that know! Its YOUR LIFE your screwing with
The basis of freezing killing things is that as the water withina cell crystalizes at 4 degrees centigrade - it crystalizes and expands - thus shredding the cell membrane and causing death of the cell. It generally works for larger cells such as bacteria - but only sum viruses are large enough to contain enough water to crystalize and kill the cell. I have a buddy going through the same Fish and Wildlife program I went through and he collected a red fox to work on (tanning etc - part of fur management course). They have to take brain tissue samples to be analyzed before being allowed to proceed. Partly so that the MNR can keep track of rabies in Ontario - partly for student safety concerns. The specimens are frozen when the sample is taken and returned to the freezer immediately. They remain frozen until the results come back. If rabies is present, the animal is incinerated immediately. This after having been frozen for sometimes over a year! Alcohol generally works to kill it off - but Im not sure what effect that would have on your skins as you work with them? There is a hand cleaner avaialble that is essentially gelled alcohol that you can use regularly while working with suspected critters. Probably a good idea to have some on hand.
And it sounds like you should take your own advice. The USDA provided mine, but there's a lot of feel good stuff out there being listed as "knowledgeable information". Using your vets analogy, rabies would never die then. It is scary because once contracted it's 100% fatal (several reports of survivors exist, but have also been questionable). STILL, raccoons carry intestinal parasites that can cause dementia and deer ticks cause about 20 different strains of Lyme's disease. Walking across the street can prove just as fatal. There ARE some well informed sources who've already written all this down if you just click that orange icon over to the left there and type in RABIES, not rabis (I thought it was a Jewish clergyman at first.)
I perform rabies testing for my job, and we usually put virus in the freezer, between -20 and -80 degrees centigrade to preserve it. So no, freezing will not kill the virus. We have some that are many years old with vialble virus.
Wear gloves. We wear kevlar gloves under the latex, but they can be a bit bulky for taxidermy work. It will prevent pokes and cuts though from a knife or scalpel. Bleach the area when done...at least a 10 percent concentration made fresh weekly.
I must say I have never heard of any lotion that will remove or kill rabies virus. I would be interested in knowing the name of it. Anything antibacterial will not kill a virus.