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Animal Bites or Scratches

Designate an ANIMAL BITE COORDINATOR for your school, district or diocese - a teacher or nurse who specifically maintains the guidelines to be followed in case the an animal bites or scratches anyone at school.

Set up an ANIMAL BITE PROCEDURE FILE. There are specific procedures to follow when a human is bitten by an animal. The lead agency to contact is the local health department, listings are in the blue pages of your telephone book.

Plan ahead by having your coordinator:

• Record all pertinent information in a central file, easily accessed by all school personnel.
• Contact two important local offices: Health Department and Animal Control Office.
1. Explain that you are establishing an animal bite procedure file because you have animals in your school.
2. Record the name of the Health Officer (person in charge of the local health department) and the animal control office for the municipality where your school is located.
3. Find out the name and location of the animal impoundment facility for the municipality where your school is located.

Read IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON RABIES (found on back of VPH-11 form, a copy of which can be obtained at the health department).

Briefly:

1. Report of Bite/Scratch Upon notification of an animal bite, the school coordinator must immediately contact the health department.
2. Confinement A domestic animal must be confined and observed for symptoms of rabies for 10 days. The Health Officer determines if the animal may be contained at home/school. If the animal cannot be confined at home/school, it must go to the animal impoundment facility or a private kennel.
3. Release from Confinement At the end of 10 days a local health department or Animal Control Officer must certify the animal exhibits no symptoms of rabies. At that point, the animal is released from the confinement order.
4. Animal Becomes Ill During Confinement If rabies is suspected, the animal must be examined and may be put to sleep by a veterinarian and sent to the NJ State Laboratories in Trenton for analysis. The victim must be notified IMMEDIATELY by the local health department.

Important

As soon as possible, the wound from a bite or scratch should be thoroughly cleaned as dental matter, fecal matter, etc. can cause infection. Topical antibiotic cream is recommended.

The parent or guardian should be notified of the bite and told to obtain medical care for the bite victim. If the physician has questions about the status of the animal, he/she should be referred to the local health department handling the case. In most cases, where an individual is bitten by a domestic animal (dog, cat, guinea pig, hamster, gerbil, etc.), the risk of rabies is very low and the physician will not start anti-rabies treatment until the animal has been confirmed to be rabid through laboratory testing. Birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians do not carry rabies.