Health officials sound alert after puppy at Colorado adoption event tests positive for rabies (2024)

A puppy at an adoption event in the south Denver metro area last month has tested positive for rabies, and now state health officials are racing to find anyone who attended the event so that they can be screened for the almost-always fatal disease.

The puppy was part of a litter of 12 at a July 20 event hosted by Moms and Mutts Colorado Rescue for Pregnant and Nursing Dogs, also known as MAMCO. The event took place at the rescue’s shelter at 2721 W. Oxford Ave. in Sheridan. The address is sometimes also listed as in Englewood.

The puppy, along with its littermates, came from Texas and was unvaccinated for rabies at the time of exposure. At the event, the puppy’s litter was known as the “July Shepherd Mix” litter and may have also been referred to as the “Celebrity Kids” litter.

The puppy subsequently tested positive for rabies and was euthanized — there is no approved treatment for rabies in animals and euthanization is required to confirm the disease’s presence. The puppy’s littermates will likely also have to be euthanized because they, too, were unvaccinated and placing them in a strict, secure quarantine away from people and other animals is not possible.

Officials with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment are working to track down 17 people who had close contact with the rabies-positive puppy, including shelter pup foster families, shelter staff and veterinarian staff, to provide them with what is known as post-exposure prophylaxis for rabies.

But public health officials are concerned people who attended the adoption event may have also been exposed to rabies and are trying to reach them.

Rabies is spread most often through the saliva of an infected animal — bites, commonly, but also through licking or scratches. It can lie dormant in the body for weeks or even months before symptoms begin to show. Once symptoms appear, rabies is almost universally fatal. This makes early screening and treatment, which can stop the disease after exposure, critical.

What to do if you attended the event

People who attended the adoption event should contact CDPHE for screening. They can call the agency’s hotline at 303-692-2700 during business hours or 303-370-9395 after hours and on weekends and holidays. Or they can email cdphe_zoonoses@state.co.us.

CDPHE staff will determine whether attendees need post-exposure treatment.

How rabies is treated

Rabies post-exposure treatment consists of two components to try to kill the rabies virus before it can gain a foothold and cause damage.

The first is a shot of what is known as immunoglobulin or immune globulin — readymade antibodies that immediately go to work fighting the virus in the body. The second is a course of rabies vaccination, which can boost your immune system to carry on the fight. A full course of vaccination consists of four shots, given immediately and then three, seven and 14 days later.

While it is commonly believed that rabies vaccination shots are given in the stomach and are painful, shots today are given in the arm and are no more painful than any other vaccination.

When started as soon as possible, rabies post-exposure treatment is almost always effective at preventing the disease.

Local governments commonly require pets such as dogs and cats to be vaccinated against rabies in Colorado. Animals that came into contact with the infected puppy’s litter may need a booster dose of vaccine, though.

No human cases in nine decades

The rabies virus attacks the brain and early symptoms can be flu-like. As the disease progresses, though, it can cause anxiety, agitation, hallucinations, fear of water and over-salivation, among other nightmarish symptoms.

Nationwide, about 60,000 people each year receive treatment for potential exposure. In Colorado, the state typically finds around 50 cases of rabies in wild animals each year — skunks and bats are common carriers. The state hasn’t had a rabies case in a dog since 2020.

There hasn’t been a human case of rabies in Colorado since 1931.