California Code of Regulations › Title 17 - Public Health › Division 1 - State Department of Health Services › Chapter 4 - Preventive Medical Service › Subchapter 1 - Reportable Diseases and Conditions › Article 3 - Specific Diseases and Conditions › Section 2606 - Rabies, Animal

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) Reporting.
					 Any person having knowledge of the whereabouts of an animal known to have or
					 suspected of having rabies shall report the facts immediately to the local health
					 officer. The health officer shall likewise be notified of any person or animal
					 bitten by a rabid or suspected rabid animal.
In those areas declared by the Director of the State
						Department of Health Services to be rabies areas (See Section
						1901.2,
						California Health and Safety Code) the local health officer shall be notified when
						any person is bitten by an animal of a species subject to rabies, whether or not the
						animal is suspected of having rabies.
(b) Isolation. Any rabid animal, clinically
					 suspected rabid animal, or biting animal shall be isolated in strict confinement as
					 follows:
(1) Isolation of Rabid Animals or
					 Clinically Suspected Rabid Animals. Any rabid animal or clinically suspected rabid
					 animal shall be isolated in strict confinement under proper care and under the
					 observation of a licensed veterinarian, in a pound, veterinary hospital, or other
					 adequate facility in a manner approved by the local health officer, except where
					 such responsibility has been delegated to a comparable officer by the governing
					 body, and shall not be killed or released for at least 10 days after the onset of
					 symptoms suggestive of rabies, with the exception that such animals may be
					 sacrificed with permission of the local health officer for the purpose of laboratory
					 examination for rabies using the fluorescent rabies antibody (FRA) test in an
					 approved public health laboratory.
(2)
					 Isolation of Biting Animals. At the discretion of the local health officer, any
					 animal which bites or otherwise exposes a person shall be isolated in strict
					 confinement in a place and manner approved by the local health officer and observed
					 for at least 14 days (dogs and cats 10 days) after the day of infliction of the
					 bite, with the exception that the following alternative to the 10 day isolation of
					 dogs and cats is permitted--dogs or cats which have been isolated in strict
					 confinement under proper care and under observation of a licensed veterinarian, in a
					 pound, veterinary hospital, or other adequate facility in a manner approved by the
					 local health officer, may be released from isolation by the local health officer
					 after five days of veterinary observation if upon conducting a thorough physical
					 examination on the fifth day or more after infliction of the bite, the observing
					 veterinarian certifies that there are no clinical signs or symptoms of any disease.
					 Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, a local health officer may authorize, with
					 permission of the owner and other legal restrictions permitting, the euthanasia of a
					 biting animal for the purpose of laboratory examination for rabies using the
					 fluorescent rabies antibody (FRA) test in an approved public health
					 laboratory.
(3) Isolation of Biting
					 Animals in Officially Declared Rabies Areas. In officially declared rabies areas
					 (see Section
					 1901.2,
					 California Health and Safety Code) the isolation described in paragraph (2) above
					 shall be mandatory for any animal of a species subject to rabies that has bitten or
					 otherwise exposed a person, with the exception of rodents (members of the order
					 Rodentia) and rabbits and hares (members of the order Lagomorpha).
(4) Laboratory Examination of Rabid Animals,
					 Clinically Suspected Rabid Animals or Biting Animals Which Die or Have Been Killed.
					 If any rabid animal, clinically suspected rabid animal or biting animal dies or has
					 been killed, adequate specimens shall be obtained and examined in a public health
					 laboratory approved by the department. No person shall destroy or allow to be
					 destroyed the brain of an animal of a species subject to rabies that has bitten or
					 otherwise exposed a person before the destruction of such brain has been authorized
					 by the local health department; provided, however, that the provisions of this
					 paragraph (4) shall not apply to rodents (members of the order Rodentia ) and
					 rabbits or hares (members of the order Lagomorpha ).