Governor orders quarantine in Samara Oblast after rabies discovery

Governor of Samara Oblast Vyacheslav Fedorishchev signed a decree introducing quarantine. It applies to a three-kilometer zone with the epicenter in the village of Grachevka. It is located in the Kinelsky District of the oblast. It was here that a focus of rabies was discovered in one of the farmsteads.

Now, in the quarantine zone, the following are prohibited: treatment of sick susceptible animals; visiting the village (with the exception of veterinary service employees); import and export of animals (except those vaccinated within the last 179 days); movement and grouping of susceptible animals; skinning of corpses of susceptible animals and hunting (except for cases of population control). In the village itself, fairs and exhibitions involving susceptible animals are also banned; buying and selling; export (except for slaughter).

Rabies is a fatal viral disease. It affects the central nervous system. It is transmitted through the bite of infected animals: cats, dogs, foxes, or bats. The virus enters the blood with saliva. The symptoms of the disease are as follows:

headache and muscle pain;

increased salivation;

fear of water (hydrophobia);

aerophobia.

Then the infected person experiences unmotivated aggression, convulsions, paralysis, and death. The only way to save oneself from death is to urgently receive a vaccine, which must be administered immediately after an animal bite. Mortality after the first symptoms appear is 100%.

The quarantine is expected to be lifted 60 days after the slaughter or destruction of the last animal suspected of infection. The final decision is made by specialists from the Samara Oblast Veterinary Committee.

Grachevka is far from the only settlement where rabies foci have been found. A few days ago, quarantine was introduced in the Krasnoglinsky District of Samara.