Header:
OHIO ADMINISTRATIVE CODE ANNOTATED
3701 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH – ADMINISTRATION AND DIRECTOR
CHAPTER 3701-3 COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Date:
09/28/2012
Document:
3701-3-29. Biting animal to be confined; veterinarian to report.
(A) Biting dog, cat, or ferret. (1) Whenever it is reported to the health commissioner of a health district that any dog, cat, or ferret has bitten an individual, that dog, cat, or ferret shall be quarantined under an order issued by the health commissioner of the health district in which the bite was inflicted. The dog, cat, or ferret shall be quarantined by its owner or by a harborer, or shall be quarantined in a pound or kennel. In all cases, said quarantine shall be under the supervision of the health commissioner and shall be at the expense of the owner or harborer. Quarantine shall continue until the health commissioner of the health district in which the bite was inflicted determines that the dog, cat, or ferret is not afflicted with rabies. The quarantine period hereby required shall not be less than ten days from the date on which the person was bitten. If at any time during the quarantine, the health commissioner requires the dog, cat, or ferret to be examined for symptoms of rabies, then the examination shall be by a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine. The licensed doctor of veterinary medicine shall report to the health commissioner the conclusions reached as a result of the examinations. The examination by a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine shall be at the expense of the owner or harborer. No dog, cat, or ferret shall be released from the required quarantine unless and until it has been properly vaccinated against rabies by a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine.
(2) If any quarantined dog, cat, or ferret dies before the quarantine period expires, then the head of the dog, cat, or ferret shall be submitted to the Ohio department of health's bureau of public health laboratories for rabies examination.
(3) If the owner or harborer of the dog, cat, or ferret is unknown, the health commissioner may direct that the dog, cat, or ferret be humanely killed in which case the head of the dog, cat, or ferret shall be submitted to the Ohio department of health's bureau of public health laboratories for rabies examination.
(4) Any dog, cat, or ferret bitten by a known rabid mammal, or that had reasonable probability to have been bitten by a wild carnivorous mammal or bat that is not available for rabies testing shall be regarded as having been exposed to rabies virus.
(a) Dogs, cats, or ferrets not currently vaccinated against the rabies virus or when vaccination cannot be verified shall be humanely killed; or if sufficient justification for preserving the dog, cat, or ferret exists, the exposed dog, cat, or ferret shall be quarantined by the health commissioner of the health district in which the bite was inflicted. The quarantine period shall be for not less than six months. The dog, cat, or ferret shall be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine one month before the end of the quarantine period required by this paragraph.
(b) Mammals with a current rabies vaccination shall be given a booster rabies vaccination immediately and quarantined under an order issued by the health commissioner of the health district in which the bite was inflicted. The quarantine period shall be for not less than forty-five days.
(B) Other biting mammals. Whenever it is reported to the health commissioner of the health district that any other mammal that is known to transmit rabies has bitten a person, the health commissioner at his or her discretion may direct the immediate killing of said mammal by a suitable humane method. The head of said mammal shall then be submitted to the Ohio department of health's bureau of public health laboratories for rabies examination.
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