My cat and dog caught a mole on saturday, I heard the poor thing squealing so I ran over and tried to get it away from them, and it bit me on the finger. I have been reading that moles "hardly ever" carry rabies but the "hardly ever" worries me. Should I get the shot -- I am wondering if the doctor will just give it to me if I ask. I could not catch the mole and don't know what happened to it so it can't be tested... when it bit me I ran in the house to wash the bite wound. I'm thinking I should just get the shot but if moles are never vectors for rabies...
I was bit by a mole last year. The buggars have sharp little teeth! Luckily, I was wearing leather gloves. But why are you asking here about this? I suggest you call your doctor for advice.
I would definitely go to a clinic and ask them what the moles in your area are carrying. I was bitten by a squirrel once in the Grand Canyon... and there were posters all about stating that the squirrels were infected with some disease that takes 7 days to kill a person... well I got that disease, I can't remember the name of it, but it gives you diarrhea within 24 hours and your body starts to dehydrate itself... and I ended up going to the library to look through a medical book to find the treatment, and luckily I had some tetracycline available.
Definitely take a visit to an emergency room and tell them that you were bitten and ask them what kind of diseases they carry. Or do it proper and visit one of them $50.00 walk-in clinics.
Yeah it is a bit off topic. I garden quite a bit and lurk here, my thinking was that gardeners are likely to run into moles and if I heard that a lot of us have been bitten by the critters I wouldn't worry about it. Best bet is to call my doctor.
here's typical advice on dealing with animal bites [Note: (1) "Rodents such as mice, rats, moles, gophers, chipmunks, prairie dogs and rabbits fortunately are considered free of rabies." and (2) risk of other infection, e.g. , tetanus.]:
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Animal or Human Main Symptoms =
=B7 Bite or claw wound from a pet or farm animal. =B7 Bite or claw wound from a wild animal. =B7 Bite from a human child or adult. =B7 Animal or human bites usually need to be seen because all of them are=
contaminated with saliva and prone to wound infection. =
Types of Animal Bites =B7 Bites from Rabies-Prone Wild Animals: Rabies is a fatal disease. Bite= s or scratches from a bat, skunk, raccoon, fox, coyote, or large wild animal are especially dangerous. These animals can transmit rabies even if they have no symptoms. =B7 Small Wild Animal Bites: Rodents such as mice, rats, moles, gophers, chipmunks, prairie dogs and rabbits fortunately are considered free of rabies. Squirrels rarely carry rabies, but have not transmitted it to humans. =B7 Large Pet Animal Bites: Most bites from pets are from dogs or cats. Bites from domestic animals such as horses can be handled using these guidelines. Dogs and cats are free of rabies in most metro areas, but stray animals are always at risk for rabies. Cats and dogs that are never allowed to roam freely outdoors are considered free of rabies. The main risk in pet bites is serious wound infection, not rabies. Cat bites become infected more often than dog bites. Claw wounds from cats are treated the same as bite wounds, since they are contaminated with saliva. =B7 Small Indoor Pet Animal Bites: Small indoor pets (gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, white mice, etc.) are at no risk for rabies. Puncture wounds from these small animals also don't need to be seen. They carry a small risk for wound infections. =B7 Human Bites: Most human bites occur during fights, especially in teenagers. Sometimes a fist is cut when it strikes a tooth. Human bites are more likely to become infected than animal bites. Many toddler bites are safe because they don't break the skin.
When to Call Your Doctor for Animal or Human Bite Call 911 Now (your child may need an ambulance) =B7 Major bleeding that can't be stopped. First Aid Advice: apply direct pressure to the entire wound with a clean cloth.
Call Your Doctor Now (night or day) If =B7 Your child looks or acts very sick. =B7 Bleeding won't stop with 10 minutes of direct pressure (continue pressure until seen). =B7 First Aid Advice: wash all the following wounds with warm water and soap before bringing your child in: =B7 Any contact with an animal at risk for RABIES. =B7 Any cut or injury from a wild animal. =B7 Any cut or injury from a pet animal (e.g., dog or cat) (EXCEPTION: superficial scratches that don't go through the skin or tiny puncture wound). =B7 Puncture wound (holes through skin) from cat (teeth or claws). =B7 Bite looks infected (redness or red streaks). Human bite that breaks the skin.
Call Your Doctor Within 24 Hours (between 9 and 4) If =B7 You think your child needs to be seen. =B7 Last tetanus shot more than 5 years ago. =B7 Bat contact or exposure without a bite mark.
Call Your Doctor During Weekday Office Hours If =B7 You have other questions or concerns.
Parent Care at Home =B7 PET ANIMAL BITE: tiny puncture wound or superficial scratches (EXCEPTION: cat puncture wound). =B7 HUMAN BITE that didn't break the skin.
Home Care Advice for All Animal Bites
Bleeding: For any bleeding, apply continuous pressure for 5 minutes.
Cleansing: Wash all wounds immediately with soap and water for 5 minutes. Also flush vigorously under a faucet for a few minutes (reason: can prevent many wound infections). Scrub the wound enough to make it re-bleed a little (reason: to help with cleaning out the wound).
Antibiotic ointment: Apply an antibiotic ointment to the bite 3 times a day for three days.
Pain Medicine: Give acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain relief.
Expected Course: Most scratches, scrapes and other minor bites heal up fine in 3 to 5 days.
Call Your Doctor If: =B7 Wound begins to look infected (pus, redness, red streaks). =B7 Your child becomes worse or develops any of the "Call Your Doctor" symptoms.
Parent Care for Pediatric Symptoms. Copyright =A9 2000-02. Barton D. Schmitt, MD, FAAP
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the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.
While it is a good idea to talk with your doc, I would highly doubt that the mole was rabid. AFAIK there has not been a documented case of a small animal giving rabies to a human (except a bat, maybe). I believe the reason for this is due to the fact that if a small animal is attacked by a larger rabid animal, such as a coyote, the smaller animal usually buys the farm and doesn't live to terrorize the locals.
You're absolutely right. I called my doc this morning, and he said get to the ER. When I got there they pretty much told me what you said.
Small animals can get rabies but almost never do. They don't really come into contact with animals that carry rabies, if they do it's a good chance they become a meal. In lab tests small animals exposed to rabies die within an hour and are incapacitated within 15 minutes. They wouldn't have much time to spread the disease.
I said it would have been nice if my doctor had told me this and saved me the trip and they just chuckled, any doctor hearing the "R" word is not going to take responsibility for telling you not go to the ER.
Apparently they keep records of all rabid animals and in the off chance that a rabid wild mole had been biting people within the same 15 minutes when you got bit you need to go there... :)
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I would sure love to know where to find that study, cause I am a virologist and took a course in veterinary virology and never came across this in relation to rabies. in any case, rodents (defined as animals with the big upper/lower incisors) have not been found to carry rabies. "Bites" are not the only way to transmits rabies. How do bats (sharp pointy teeth) get rabies? Ingrid
"Bob Provencher" wrote: In lab tests small animals exposed to rabies die within
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the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.
Citing amateurish websites for the full sum of one's scientific knowledge can also be a fun way to prove sasquatches not only exist, but are from Mars.
Insectivores like shrews, moles & hedgehogs are NOT rodents. Insectivores do NOT have "constantly growing" gnawing teeth. Rabbits & hares however do have gnawing teeth without being rodents; they are lagomorpha.
Trust me on this. And do consider suing your seventh grade science teacher.
snipped-for-privacy@wi.rr.xx.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news-server.wi.rr.com:
This confirms what I have always suspected. Elephants (loxodonta anyway) are really just giant mice, as are warthogs (teeth), hippopotami (teeth), cats (rabies) and dogs (rabies). Raccoons, formerly in order Carnivora with cats and dogs are now also Rodentia. There are some differences, but why split hairs?
How does one get bitten by a mole anyway? Was it a wealthy mole (who could afford glasses) and could see? Or did the mole, thinking it was about to be lunch, decide to have one last meal himself? ("Man that's one big ugly worm ... oh well, lunch is lunch ... goodbye cruel world!")
You know your life sucks when a cat and dog decide to make friends and gang up on you. But it can't be all that bad if you get away.
I would ordinarily submit to the expertise of a virologist on such a topic, but this stuff is so elementary you're actually freaking me out that virololgists may be dangerously undereducated!
Bat rabies is extensively studied, & the veterinary college at Kansas State University is even now doing research on rabies vaccinations for bats. While rabies is not as big risk from bats that many people fear (risk to human health is so remote that it is regarded entireloy safe safe to encourage bats with bat-houses around one's house), but it's nevertheless an unfortunate fact that the most common wild animal rabies carriers are (in order of consequence) skunks, foxes, bats, coyotes, & raccoons, among which skunks & raccoons are most significant for cat & dog infections, then to humans, since by far the ;most common source of rabies in hujmans is the domestic cat (winning out over the dog). However, other mammals are not immune to the infection.
Large rodents are well known to carry rabies at least occasionally, mostly woodchucks & occasionally beavers that live in areas where raccoon rabies is prevalent, getting it from raccoon encounters. Rabies is rarely reported in rodents smaller than woodchucks because if attacked by a larger infected animal, small rodents have almost no chance of surviving the initial physical assault, though they certainly are susceptible to infection (but would probably never again leave their shelter until they died, so the chance of encountering humans while alive & infective is unlikely).
For quick reference on rodents with rabies, see this abstract at MedLine, from the Journal of Wildlife Diseases, Jan 1997:
The article documented a 354% increase in rabies infections in rodents between 1971 & 1984, cases of infected rodents reported from 22 states, again predominantly gophers. There are additional articles cited in the full article that indicate sufficient genetic distinction for rodent rabies that it must in some populations be spread between the rodents themselves rather than exclusively from infected raccoon encounters. If you look at the MedLine short version & hit the button for related articles, you'll get abstracts of further research on rodent rabies. This is stuff that any veterinarian virologist most certainly should have studied, so you've had extraordinarily bad luck with quality of professors.
It is not a threat to human health issues however. Of 24,000 rabies tests of people bitten by squirrels, rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, moles, & shrews, not one case of human infection from rodentia or insectivora species has ever come to light. Such infections are not scientifically impossible, but the risk of human infection from rodent or insectivora bites is so remote that it is generally regarded as no risk to humans. Logomorph rabies (rabbits & hares) is more common, but that is even so uncommon; an infected rabbit won't likely live long enough to bite people.
Not that there aren't plenty of OTHER zoonotic diseases to worry about even with moles. Moles as well as rodents have been documented to carry rikettsial pox & Leptospirosis diseases, & these can be serious for human infection, plus moles like other small mammals can carry ticks that carry diseases to humans. Moles can also carry external & intestinal parasites to dogs & cats, & moles have been found infected with bovine tuberculosis, so probably do help transmit TB among livestock, & bovine TB is zoonotic meaning it can jump to people.
Mole bites are actually rare because they do not have gnawing teeth in front, their small unspecialized teeth are far back in their snouts, & though needle-sharp are too short & too far back to pose much threat, though obviously it can happen.
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the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.
snipped-for-privacy@wi.rr.xx.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news-server.wi.rr.com:
The tusks of elephants[1] are really incisors that are constantly growing. Elephants don't have an opposing pair in the lower jaw, but their other teeth do keep growing (until they run out). The tusks of hippos and warthogs are really canines (which rodents, except for moles [2] under your definition, don't have), but why split hairs?
[1]
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*
Insectivora teeth are not supposed to be very differientiated, so [2] may not be representative
I could not find proof that elephants are really mice, but here is proof that cats are really mice (or that mice are really cats):
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