Showing posts with label Carroll Co Health Dept. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carroll Co Health Dept. Show all posts

Monday, May 23, 2016

The Carroll County Health Department is alerting area citizens about a cat that recently tested positive for #rabies.




by Jon Kelvey for the Carroll County Times

The Carroll County Health Department is alerting area citizens about a cat that recently tested positive for rabies.

Mon. May 23, 2016 - Notice: The Carroll County Health Department is alerting area citizens about a cat that recently tested positive for rabies.

It was an older gray domestic short-hair kitten (approximately 9 months old) that may have roamed on and around the area of West Main Street that runs behind the Safeway, on the other side of Route 31 in Westminster (near Baugher’s Restaurant.)

Rabies is spread through saliva of an infected animal, usually by bite, but also through a scratch or open wound.

If you think you may have had contact with the cat in the ways described above, please contact the Health Department at (410) 876-4771, (410) 876-4936, or (410) 876-4882.

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For more information about rabies, go to the section on rabies on the Carroll County Health Department’s website here: http://www.carrollhealthdepartment.dhmh.md.gov/envirohealth/rabiesprevent.html

The Bureau of Environmental Health is charged with minimizing the effects of rabies on Carroll County's citizens. This is accomplished in cooperation with the Department's Nursing Bureau, local law enforcement, the County Humane Society, and other State and local agencies. The Bureau is responsible for investigation of animal bites, managing quarantines, conducting vaccination clinics for dogs, cats and ferrets, and determining when animals must be euthanized and /or submitted for laboratory testing.

Rabies Facts

Rabies is a deadly disease caused by a virus. It kills almost any mammal or human that gets sick from it.

The rabies virus lives in the saliva of rabid animals. It can be transmitted through a bite or scratch or by a lick in a wound or in the eye or mouth.

Only mammals get rabies. Birds, insects, fish, turtles, reptiles, and amphibians do not. Skunks, bats, foxes, raccoons, dogs, cats, ferrets, and some farm animals are most likely to get rabies. Rabbits, opossums, squirrels, rats, and mice seldom get it.

Rabies can be prevented in cats, dogs, ferrets, horses, cows, sheep, and goats with a rabies vaccination. There is no accepted rabies vaccination for wild animals.

Those most likely to be exposed are cats and dogs kept outside and allowed to roam; farm animals; humans who trap, hike, and camp.

What You Can Do To Prevent and Control Rabies

Cats, dogs, ferrets, and selected livestock need up-to-date rabies vaccination. Puppies and kittens vaccinated between the ages of 3-12 months, and dogs and cats receiving their first vaccination, must be revaccinated 12 months later. Re-vaccination should be every 1 to 3 years, depending on the type of vaccine used. It will not harm your pet to have it vaccinated every year if you wish.

The Bureau of Environmental Health offers at-cost anti-rabies vaccination clinics for animals each year.  Contact our office for dates and times.

If your vaccinated pet is attacked or bitten by a rabid animal, be sure to have it revaccinated with a booster. If your pet is not vaccinated, it may have to be destroyed or kept in strict isolation for six months.

Pets should be kept in the home or yard and, if off your property, walked on a leash. Pets running at large are more likely to be exposed to rabies.

Enjoy wild animals from a distance. Wild animals should not be kept as pets. They are a potential rabies threat to their owners and others. Even a baby skunk or raccoon, born in captivity, can be a rabies carrier.

Avoid strange animals even if they appear friendly. Do not try to coax wild animals to eat from your hand. Never approach or touch wild animals or pets you do not own.

Children should be told to immediately report any bite, scratch, or contact with a strange or wild animal.

Make your house and yard unattractive to wild animals. Feed pets inside the house. Keep garbage in tightly closed trash cans and do not set trash out the night before it is to be collected. Cap chimneys. Seal off any openings in the attic, under porches, and in basements and outbuildings.

Some Common Questions About Rabies

How can people get rabies?

Since rabies lives in rabid animals' saliva, a bite is the most common way it is transmitted. Scratches which have allowed saliva into the body or saliva that has gotten into open wounds, eyes, nose, or mouth can also be a problem. Just petting or touching a rabid animal or pet which has had contact with a rabid animal, or being in an area where rabid animals have been does not result in a rabies exposure.

What should I do if I think my dog, cat, ferret, or farm animal has rabies?

Consult a veterinarian and report to the local law enforcement agency if any person has been bitten or exposed to the suspect animal. Be sure to keep the animal confined until it can be examined by a veterinarian. Try not to expose yourself or other people to the animal.

What should I do if I see a stray or wild animal that I think may have rabies?

Do not feed or handle it. Keep your own animals from coming in contact with it. Capture the animal, if possible, without risking exposure. For example, if the raccoon is in a garage, close all doors and windows. Then call your local animal control agency for further instructions.

What should I do if I find a dead animal on my property?

If there has been human or animal exposure, contact your local health department for instructions. If there has been no human or animal exposure, the animal may be buried. If it is necessary to touch the animal, gloves should be worn. An easy way to handle the animal is to stick your hand into a garbage bag, grab the animal by a leg through the garbage bag, then pull the bag over the animal, and tie it shut. Then, bury the animal, preferably three feet deep, or dispose of it through the local animal control agency. Do not throw it out along a road, or in a wooded area or field.

What should I do if my dog, cat, ferret, or farm animal has been exposed to a wild animal that I think may have rabies?

Do not handle, pet, touch, or examine your animal for at least 2 hours. The wild animal should be captured or killed, being careful not to damage the head, and submitted for rabies testing through the local health department. In doing this, you should be careful not to get bitten or exposed to the wild animal. Assistance may be available through your local animal control agency.

What will be done with the animal that bit (or exposed) me to find out if it has rabies?

If it is a dog, cat, ferret, or farm animal, it will be quarantined for 10 days, to find out if it had rabies at the time it bit you. If it is a wild animal, it will probably have to be destroyed and the head submitted for testing to the laboratory.
Should I get vaccinated against rabies?

Generally speaking no. The pre-exposure vaccination is only recommended for certain high-risk groups. These are people who regularly handle animals and, therefore, may be at high risk of exposure to rabies. High-risk groups include veterinarians, animal control workers, trappers and raccoon hunters.

What You Need To Do If A Bite Occurs

Try to capture the animal or, if the animal is wild, try to kill it. Try not to damage the animal's head.

Immediately wash the wound with plenty of soap and water, scrubbing the bitten area gently. Dry the wound.

If the animal is a pet dog or cat, obtain the pet owner's name, address, and telephone number. Find out if the animal has a current rabies shot (immunization) and write down the rabies tag number.

Get prompt medical attention, if necessary. Go to your family doctor or nearest emergency room.

Report the incident to the police. If your pet dog or cat is involved in a fight with a wild animal:

Do not handle your pet for two hours after the fight. This will give any infected saliva time to dry, killing the virus.

If your immunized pet dog or cat has been bitten, they will need another rabies vaccination. The animal will also have to be kept on a leash or caged for 45 days.

If your pet is not currently vaccinated, it will have to be placed in strict isolation for six months or humanely euthanized.

What You Need To Know About Rabies Treatment

Once the signs of rabies appear, the disease almost always causes death. If caught in time, it can be prevented. After a person is bitten by an animal proven to have rabies, a doctor must be contacted immediately and anti-rabies treatment begun.

The treatment consists of five doses of vaccine given over a one-month period, plus antiserum given at the beginning. None of the injections are given in the stomach area. This treatment has been very successful.

No one who has received proper treatment has died from rabies.

Vaccination against rabies before exposure is not recommended for the general public. Only those individuals who are regularly at risk for rabies exposure should get this vaccine (for example, veterinarians, and animal control workers).

For more information about rabies, go to the section on rabies on the Carroll County Health Department’s website here: http://www.carrollhealthdepartment.dhmh.md.gov/envirohealth/rabiesprevent.html

In other Carroll County Health Department News







Monday, July 27, 2015

Edwin Singer Named Carroll County Md Health Officer



Ed Singer is a Carroll County veteran that served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. On June 30, 2015 he talked to the Carroll County history project about how he was initially skeptical to join the military but ended up serving 27 years. Photo courtesy of http://carrollhistory.org/ed-singer/. The county could not have chosen a better candidate to be the county health officer… / Kevin Dayhoff

Westminster, Md. - - On Monday, July 27, 2015 – The Carroll County Board of Commissioners and the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DHMH) announced, “The hiring of Mr. Edwin Singer, as the Health Officer for Carroll County. Mr. Singer will assume these new duties on July 29, 2015.

“Mr. Singer earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, Environmental Tract, from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) in 1987. He is a licensed Environmental Health Specialist and was previously Chairman and served on the State licensing Board for Environmental Health Specialists.

“Mr. Singer has worked for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene since 1998; over the last 11 years he’s served as the Director of Environmental Health at the Carroll County Health Department.

“Mr. Singer has dedicated his career to public health. The vast majority of his civilian professional career has been at the Carroll County Health Department (CCHD). He began his career reviewing development plans, conducting soil evaluations, and inspecting on-site water and wastewater systems for the CCHD.  In 2004 Mr. Singer was promoted to the Environmental Health Director for the CCHD.

“ ‘I’ve worked with Ed for over 4 years in his role as Director of Environmental Health and I’m confident he’ll be an excellent Public Health Officer for Carroll County,’ said Commissioner Doug Howard. ‘Ed’s a proactive leader who is dedicated to those served by the Health Department.  He has demonstrated a willingness to work with citizens as well as government entities to get the best result for those affected by the public health system.’

“Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services at DHMH, Dr. Howard Haft says, ‘We are excited to have Ed become the Local Health Officer for Carroll County. There is no doubt his breadth of experience will provide significant contributions both locally and overall to the State of Maryland.’

“Mr. Singer has served on the State Water Quality Advisor Council and the Patapsco/Back River Tributary Strategies Team, and Maryland Conference of Local Environmental Health Directors. He has also worked closely with county agencies and elected officials on state laws, regulations, and policies that impact the citizens of Carroll County.


“Mr. Singer served for 27 years in the Maryland Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve retiring as a Major in September of 2013. He lives in Manchester with his wife and children. He and his family are very actively involved in the local community.
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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

CC Health Dept cancels Nov 7 H1N1 clinics

Click here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/oael4

The Carroll County Health Department announced that due to insufficient quantities of Flu Vaccine, they are cancelling the H1N1 Flu Clinics scheduled for November 7th. Please refer to the attached schedule for the revised clinic schedule.

Changes to these dates and times will be posted on the Carroll County Health Department's website at www.carrollhealthdepartment.dhmh.md.gov and the Flu Hotline 410-876-3003

I have two versions of the essentially the same update. I'll just paste both of them into this post. It looks like before anyone ventures out to any of the scheduled clinics, you need to check with: the Carroll County Health Department's website at www.carrollhealthdepartment.dhmh.md.gov and the Flu Hotline 410-876-3003

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CARROLL COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT

H1N1 (SWINE) FLU UPDATE

4 NOVEMBER 2009


NOTE: The perspective of the coming Updates will be somewhat changed. As increasing amounts of H1N1 vaccine comes into the County, the Updates will focus more on CCHD’s mass vaccination centers (MVC) specifically and vaccination issues in general.


The MVCs scheduled for Saturday November 7, 2009 at Northwest Middle School in Taneytown and Winters Mill High School in Westminster HAVE BEEN CANCELED due to lack of vaccine.


The next scheduled MVC will be held on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at the Carroll County Agricultural Center – Shipley Arena, 706 Agricultural Center, Westminster. Hours are 11:00 am to 7:00 pm or until vaccine is exhausted. This MVC is still only for the Centers for Disease Control’s initial priority groups, which are:


  • Pregnant women

  • Household contacts and caregivers for children younger than 6 months of age

  • Healthcare and emergency medical services personnel

  • Children and young adults aged 6 months to 24 years

  • Persons aged 25 through 64 with chronic medical conditions which place them at greater risk of medical complication from influenza

When CCHD staff arrive at a MVC, they will hand out numbered index cards equal to the number of doses on hand to the people in line. This should avoid individuals from waiting an inordinate amount of time only to be turned away at the door.

DATES OF FUTURE H1N1 MASS VACCINATION CENTERS

(subject to vaccine availability)


Saturday, November 14 at Parr’s Ridge Elementary School

Saturday, November 14 at North Carroll Middle School

Wednesday, November 18 at the Manchester Activities Building

(clinic times to be announced)

Please consult the CCHD website

www.carrollhealthdepartment.dhmh.md.gov


for up to date information.
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REVISED 11/4/09

H1N1 (SWINE FLU) MASS VACCINATION CLINIC (MVC) SCHEDULE

FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS IN THE PRIORITY GROUP*

*SUBJECT TO VACCINE AVAILABILITY*

Changes to these dates and times will be posted on the

Carroll County Health Department’s website at

http://www.carrollhealthdepartment.dhmh.md.gov/ and the Flu Hotline 410-876-3003

Before going to the MVC, check the website and/or call the Flu Hotline

as the clinic schedule is subject to change

These clinics are for the PRIORITY GROUPS recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Currently, there is a limited supply of vaccine and the CDC recommends that the priority groups receive the vaccine FIRST. These individuals are found to be at greatest risk for complications from H1N1:

Pregnant women

Household contacts and caregivers for children younger than 6 months of age

Healthcare and emergency medical services personnel

Children and young adults aged 6 months to 24 years

Persons aged 25 through 64 with health conditions that place them at greater risk of medical complications from influenza

Again, the above priority groups will receive the vaccine FIRST. After these priority groups have been vaccinated, the Carroll County Health Department will schedule H1N1 vaccination clinics in the county so that ALL residents can receive the vaccine if they so wish. The Carroll County Health Department is following the recommendations set forth by the Centers for Disease Control.

I can't get the tables below to format well - go here for a full version of the tables: http://tinyurl.com/ycny9v7


DATES OF FUTURE H1N1 MASS VACCINATION CLINICS (TENTATIVE)

(SUBJECT TO VACCINE AVAILABILITY)

DATE

TIME

LOCATION

Saturday, November 7, 2009

CLINIC CANCELLED

9:00 – 4:00 pm (subject to change due to vaccine availability)

Northwest Middle School

99 Kings Drive

Taneytown

Saturday, November 7, 2009

CLINIC CANCELLED

9:00 – 4:00 pm

(subject to change due to vaccine availability)

Winters Mill High School

560 Gorsuch Road

Westminster

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Note: Only intramuscular injections (shots) available, no FluMist on this clinic date

11:00 am – 7:00 pm

(clinic may close earlier than designated time depending upon vaccine availability)

Carroll County Agricultural Center – Shipley Arena

706 Agricultural Center

Westminster


DATES OF FUTURE H1N1 MASS VACCINATION CLINICS (TENTATIVE)

(SUBJECT TO VACCINE AVAILABILITY)

TENTATIVE DATE

TIME

LOCATION

Saturday, November 14, 2009

to be announced

Parr’s Ridge Elementary School

Saturday, November 14, 2009

to be announced

North Carroll Middle School

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

to be announced

Manchester Activities Building

Saturday, November 21, 2009

to be announced

to be announced

Saturday, November 21, 2009

to be announced

Century High School

Monday, November 23, 2009

to be announced

Mt. Airy Activities Building


Revised: 11/4/09
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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/