Rescued Dog From Egypt Tests Positive For Rabies

TOPEKA – On Feb. 25 the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) was notified of a dog in Missouri that tested positive for rabies. This dog was part of a group of 26 dogs that were imported from Egypt at the end of January 2019 by Unleashed Pet Rescue located at 5918 Broadmoor, Mission, Kansas. All the remaining 25 dogs had been placed into foster care or had been adopted in the Kansas City metro area. KDHE is working closely with the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment, Kansas State University Rabies Laboratory, Kansas Department of Agriculture, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (MDHSS), Missouri Department of Agriculture, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on this investigation.

Rabies is a fatal viral disease in people and animals. People or animals can become infected with the rabies virus from a bite by a rabid animal or when saliva from the rabid animal comes into contact with the eyes, inside the mouth or an open wound. Vaccination of animals against rabies is highly effective at preventing this deadly disease. Although all the dogs in this group had health certificates and documentation of receiving rabies vaccine in Egypt, the rabies infection in one of the dogs raises the uncertainty about the validity of the rabies vaccination and how these dogs were quarantined prior to arrival into the United States.

KDHE and MDHSS are requiring that all these dogs be brought back to the shelter for evaluation and quarantine for the safety of the families, people and animals in the community, and the remaining dogs. To our knowledge at this time, none of the other 25 dogs have developed signs of rabies. All persons that have been in contact with the rabid dog have been notified, assessed for rabies exposure and, if determined to be necessary, are receiving rabies post-exposure prophylaxis. Persons that have had contact with other dogs from Unleashed Pet Rescue were not exposed to rabies.