- Written by Georgia Department of Public Health
- Category: Public Service Announcements
50 years since the introduction of the measles vaccine, we are reminded that although measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, the disease is still commonly transmitted in many parts of the world. Because measles continues to be brought into the U.S. by unvaccinated people who get infected while overseas, high vaccine coverage is critical for preventing measles cases and outbreaks, and protecting infants who are too young to get vaccinated. Read more below, and check with your health care provider to make sure your child is up-to-date on his or her vaccinations!
Read More on Page 2. . .
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- Written by Jennifer King
- Category: Press Room
Nursing may seem simple to some – monitor a patient’s vital signs, check another’s symptoms and glide through the duties of the day. But, in fact, nursing is hard, skillful work that requires a deep sense of dedication.
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- Written by Jennifer King
- Category: Media Releases
Jasper (GA) – As a rabid raccoon attempted to attack a Pickens County, Georgia woman, her dog leapt to the rescue, saving her from harm.
According to Jan Stephens, manager of Pickens County Environmental Health, a couple in the Yellow Creek area of the county was walking around the edge of the woods with their 
dog early in the morning on Saturday, April 11, when a raccoon suddenly ran aggressively toward the woman’s foot. The couple’s dog lunged at the raccoon and fought it before it could come into contact with the woman, and her husband beat the raccoon to death with a stick.
Stephens submitted the raccoon to the Georgia Public Health Laboratory that Monday, and the lab confirmed on Tuesday that the raccoon was positive for rabies.
Because the dog was properly vaccinated against rabies, it was only necessary to give the pet a booster rabies shot. If the dog had not been vaccinated, the couple would have been faced with either euthanizing their pet or keeping it in strict quarantine for six months.
Several positive rabies cases have occurred in the Yellow Creek area in past years, so residents should be alert to animals behaving strangely.
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- Written by Jennifer King
- Category: Media Releases
Blue Ridge (GA) – The third case of rabies this year in Fannin County, Georgia – and the second in a raccoon – has been confirmed by the Georgia Public Health Laboratory, according to Fannin County Environmental Health officials.
Shannon Bradburn, local environmental health specialist, said a resident at a home about five miles south of Blue Ridge on Aska Road near Scenic Hollow Road, heard a commotion outside the home at approximately 11 p.m. on Tuesday, April 14. The resident investigated the noise and found a raccoon growling at two kittens that live on the property, so the resident shot and killed it.
The raccoon was prepared for shipment and sent to the state laboratory on Wednesday. Late Thursday afternoon, local environmental health officials received the report that the test results were positive for rabies.
Bradburn stated, “Our office contacted the homeowners, and though it seemed unlikely the young kittens had actually come into contact with the raccoon, they had not yet received their initial rabies vaccinations, so the owners decided to maintain both animals in strict double-penned enclosures.”
Instructions for constructing these enclosures were provided to the homeowners through a link on the North Georgia Health District’s website at http://nghd.org/FanninEnvironmental/.
“We will be working with the residents over the next few days in ensuring that the pens are built to required specifications,” said Bradburn, “and we will be monitoring both animals over the next six months, which is the required period for quarantine.”
There was no human exposure, and though the home where the incident occurred is on a large tract of private land that is surrounded by U.S. Forest Service property and far away from other residents, local environmental health officials went to the nearest homes today to provide alert notifications and rabies informational materials.
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