A Lancaster County man has undergone rabies post-exposure vaccines after harvesting and field dressing a confirmed rabies positive deer.
This was reported in a Pennsylvania Game Commission press release Thursday.
The hunter was harvesting and field dressing the animal two weeks ago where he described the animal as “standing in a creek, straining and growling”.
He contacted the Game Commission concerned about whether the deer was safe to eat.
According to John Veylupek, Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer (WCO), “After gathering information from the hunter, as well as samples for testing, it was determined that the deer was rabid. Because the hunter had scratches on his hands and had field dressed the deer without wearing gloves, we considered this a human exposure and urged him to contact his doctor about post-exposure rabies shots.”
Game Commission wildlife veterinarian, Dr. Walter Cottrell reiterated warnings to hunters concerning sick-appearing animals and wearing rubber or latex gloves when field dressing any mammal.
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