PROVIDENCE — More than 100 persons called the Rhode Island Department of Health Thursday to determine whether they need rabies vaccine after learning that they may have been exposed to the disease while visiting a cow pasture next to the popular Gray’s Ice Cream dairy in Tiverton earlier this month.
While the focus had up to now been on a three-month-old calf named Oreo, who bit a child on July 15 and died six days later while under quarantine, the investigation widened Friday after the news that a second calf in the same pasture has also died. Officials were never able to conduct rabies tests on the first animal because they were notified too late, but say they expect to have test results on the second animal Saturday.
The Health Department’s spokeswoman Dara Chadwick was not available to comment Friday on how many of the 100 residents who called the department were advised to get a rabies vaccination. Her counterpart in Massachusetts said federal law prevented him from saying how many of the 30 Bay State residents who contacted the Health Department there have been told to get a rabies shots.
The owner of the cows, Marilyn Bettencourt, proprietor of the ice cream parlor, called Tiverton animal control the day Oreo died and left a message for the animal control officer, according to Tiverton Police Chief Thomas Blakey. However, the officer was out on three days sick leave, the chief said, and only received Bettencourt’s message on July 24.
State officials have said that although the animal control officers notified them upon his return, it was too late to test the carcass for rabies.
The Health Department issued a public statement Thursday urging anyone who was exposed to the animal’s saliva from July 5 through July 21 to contact the department.
Chadwick said callers are asked about what kind of interaction with the animal they may have had “to get a sense of the risk of exposure.”
Dr. James V. McDonald, a Health Department physician, said Thursday that the callers are asked whether they touched the calf’s face. Did they feed the calf? Do they have any cuts on their hand? “The Health Department is taking this approach out of an abundance of caution,” he said. “We really don’t know why the cow died.”
After the screening, Chadwick said, the staff “says, yes, you need to be treated, or no, you’re not particularly at risk.”
She said the Health Department controls the supply of the vaccine.
“The procedure is we find out which emergency room they would like to go to, and we direct them there. Health staff will call that emergency room and that’s where the shots will be administered,” she said. “It’s a four-shot series. The first day also includes rabies immune globulin, then a shot on days 3, 7 and 14.”
Chadwick said the shots are no more uncomfortable than flu shots.
Rabies infections are extremely rare — Rhode Island has not seen a human case since 1940. The fatality rate approaches 100 percent.
McDonald said Rhode Island is one of the few states that requires physicians to report all animal bites, and the Health Department gets daily animal-bite calls. Most suspected rabies exposures involve bats or raccoons, very rarely cows, he said.
Dr. Scott Marshall, state veterinarian, said that while owners of all animals in a public setting are urged to vaccinate them against rabies, the only animals required by Rhode Island law to have the vaccine are dogs, cats and ferrets.
Gray’s has not returned calls seeking further information. The shop’s website says the cows were pets, and not used for milk production.
Rhode Island residents who had contact with the calf between July 5 and July 21 should contact the Rhode Island Department of Health at (401) 222-2577 for an evaluation. Massachusetts residents that had contact with the animal are asked to call the Massachusetts Department of Public Health at (617) 983-6800.
With reports by
Richard C. Dujardin
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