Utah Public Health Laboratory Rabies Virus Detection and Reporting

Why do we test animals for rabies?

Prevent unnecessary PEP – Why? In most instances, observation or testing will rule out rabies.

How do you get the animal to the lab Hand delivery Courier service Mail delivery

What time should it get to the lab? Most samples received by 10:00 a.m. will be reported same-day. Samples received after 11:00 a.m. will typically be reported the next business day 8am – 5 pm Monday – Friday (closed holidays)

How useful is a result that can’t be trusted?

DO – Refrigerate animal heads – Send to the lab immediately (within 3 days) – Ship with cool packs DON’T – Send putrid or decaying animal heads – Dig up an animal that has been buried for a week – Expect a package without ice packs to survive the heat of July!

How do you test for rabies? First- we open the package in a biological safety cabinet. – Live bats need to be labled!

How do you test for rabies? Second – We remove very specific portions of the brain for testing.

How do you test for rabies? Multiple impressions of each brain section are made on slides Slides are dried (30 min), then fixed in acetone for a minimum of 1 hour.

How do you test for rabies? For every group of slides, a known positive and negative slide are prepared and treated identically to the test group. Slides are stained with direct fluorescent antibodies for 30 minutes, then rinsed and washed repeatedly (1 hour).

How do you test for rabies? Each slide (at least 4 per animal) are meticulously read on a fluorescent microscope.

How do you test for rabies? Reading Slides is tedious, time consuming, and requires intense concentration. Negative slidePositive Slide

How do you test for rabies? But sometimes it’s obvious!

How do we get results? Results can be reported via secure fax, secure , or traditional mail. Multiple addresses can be cc’d

Secure FAQ’s Secure requires a password associated with your address.

Secure FAQ’s Always Download the attachment (NEVER click “view”) Check spam folder and mark as “safe”

Secure FAQ’s Some providers make it look simple. Like you can just enter your password from the body of the . You still need to download the attachment

Secure FAQ’s Remember your password! If you enter an incorrect password 3x, you’ll have trouble!

Final Results in PDF format

How much does a rabies test cost?

Each animal tested costs $95 (supplies, reagents, and tech time) Laboratory currently subsidizes 80%-100% of cost

How much does a rabies test cost In the near future, lab will only subsidize cost for animals which meet compendium guidelines or have approval from state epidemiologist All other testing will be offered at cost

Questions?