Minnesota health officials have recommended rabies post-exposure treatment for nine people, including two minor children, after a Hereford heifer in Brown County tested positive for rabies. Several of them handled the sick animal or gave it medicine by mouth without gloves before anyone suspected the disease.
The case, announced Sept. 17 by the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, shows how rabies exposure can happen without a bite. Saliva from an infected animal can transmit the virus if it reaches the eyes, nose, mouth, or a fresh open wound, and a cow that simply seems sick or off its feed can be carrying it.
