EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
I was exposed to rabies when I was stationed in Cameroon. My pet dog got sick and then died rather quickly. Because rabies is so common there, we had him tested for it, which turned out to be positive. Bats and Rats are the two main carriers, but just about any mammal will carry it.
The thing that bothered me the most about Rabies is there is no cure for it. There was that girl a few years ago that survived, but she's one of the only people to have done so. It can live in your body for a year or more before infecting your nervous system. Once this happens, you are dead.
The only cures are for becoming exposed to it. The vacines and medicines work really good for this, but again, it's only for killing the virus when it's dormant in your body.
There's probably newer, better stuff out there, then when I got it in 1985. In my case, I had the pre-exposure shots as part of my required shots by the Marine Corps. One shot when getting to Cameroon, the second shot a month later and the third shot a few months after that. It might have been six months for that third shot, I don't remember for sure since it seemed like we were always getting a shot for something.
The only way to check for Rabies is to examine the skull and spine. It's most common in the skull, but in my case, they found it in the spine of my dog.
Why does your daughter think it had rabies?
If you suspect that it had rabies, the thing to do is call the animal control officer and have it tested. If there is rabies in your area, it's important to find out so that precautions can be taken.
Since she's already freaked out by it being in the water, I don't know if any amount of treatment will be enough. It's probably not about the water, or how clean it is, but that the water had a rotting ground hog in it. Yuk.
I'd either drain it and refill it, or drain it and close it down for the year.
Eddie
The thing that bothered me the most about Rabies is there is no cure for it. There was that girl a few years ago that survived, but she's one of the only people to have done so. It can live in your body for a year or more before infecting your nervous system. Once this happens, you are dead.
The only cures are for becoming exposed to it. The vacines and medicines work really good for this, but again, it's only for killing the virus when it's dormant in your body.
There's probably newer, better stuff out there, then when I got it in 1985. In my case, I had the pre-exposure shots as part of my required shots by the Marine Corps. One shot when getting to Cameroon, the second shot a month later and the third shot a few months after that. It might have been six months for that third shot, I don't remember for sure since it seemed like we were always getting a shot for something.
The only way to check for Rabies is to examine the skull and spine. It's most common in the skull, but in my case, they found it in the spine of my dog.
Why does your daughter think it had rabies?
If you suspect that it had rabies, the thing to do is call the animal control officer and have it tested. If there is rabies in your area, it's important to find out so that precautions can be taken.
Since she's already freaked out by it being in the water, I don't know if any amount of treatment will be enough. It's probably not about the water, or how clean it is, but that the water had a rotting ground hog in it. Yuk.
I'd either drain it and refill it, or drain it and close it down for the year.
Eddie