An adult female fox has been confirmed positive for rabies after being caught on the grounds of the US Capitol and humanely executed. The fox bit at least nine people, including a lawmaker and a Politico reporter.
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An adult female fox has been confirmed positive for rabies after being caught on the grounds of the US Capitol and humanely executed. The fox bit at least nine people, including a lawmaker and a Politico reporter.
Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
Ximena Bustillo was leaving the US Capitol on Tuesday when she felt a small puncture and scratch on her left ankle. Bustillo, an agricultural and food policy reporter for Politico, immediately screamed as she turned around and found herself face to face with a red fox.
Bustillo said the two stood still for a moment as she continued to scream and brandish her backpack at the animal to make it go away. Several congressional staffers nearby heard her and came to help.
Eventually, the fox relented and ran into the bushes, but it left Bustillo standing there with his ankle bleeding. Almost immediately, panic struck. What should she do? Who should she call? Also, can foxes carry rabies?
The answer is yes, foxes can carry rabies, a viral disease most often transmitted through the saliva of an animal’s bite. Rabies has one of the highest mortality rates, yet deaths in the US are extremely rare because of the effectiveness of post-exposure treatment.
Foxes are one of the most common animals in the US that carry the rabies virus, along with bats, raccoons and skunks, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After the Capitol Hill fox was captured and fed so it could be tested, DC Health, the health agency for the District of Columbia, confirmed that the fox tested positive for the rabies virus.
Even before that confirmation, however, Bustillo had begun post-exposure prophylaxis for the rabies that many people bitten by wild animals experience. What remains to be seen is how much this encounter will cost her. Almost 55,000 Americans receive post-exposure prophylaxis The CDC says treatment is per year, but costs vary greatly.
Capitol Hill police officers and an officer with the Humane Rescue Coalition’s animal control division attempt to trap a fox on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. The fox was eventually caught, fed, and confirmed positive for rabies. The fox’s kits were also humanely killed after it was determined they might have been exposed and could no longer be safely recovered.
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Capitol Hill police officers and an officer with the Humane Rescue Coalition’s animal control division attempt to trap a fox on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. The fox was eventually caught, fed, and confirmed positive for rabies. The fox’s kits were also humanely killed after it was determined they might have been exposed and could no longer be safely recovered.
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Treatment usually consists of a series of five shots: one dose of rabies immune globulin and four doses of rabies vaccine given over two weeks. This can vary depending on how bad the bite or exposure is and whether a person is immunocompromised. The good news is that the treatment is extremely effective, and the death rate from rabies in the US is extremely low. In 2021, this country records five deaths from rabiesis the highest number in a decade, but no deaths or cases have been reported because the whole of 2019 and 2020.
While there are several different brand options, the cost of this treatment ranges from $4,868.35 to $5,930.83, according to the latest drug prices. data from GoodRxa website that promotes transparency about drug prices and helps people get discounts on prescription drugs.
However, GoodRx’s estimate does not include management costs These drugs are usually used in hospitals. That means prices can also be marked. Studies for many years yes found that the hospital can be easily bill for patient for twice the price of the drug – or sometimes 10 times as much.
Medical treatments aren’t billed when a patient is discharged from the hospital, and Bustillo has yet to complete her entire vaccination process, but she’s been thinking about the cost.
“I’ve heard people say it’s extremely expensive,” Bustillo said. “I’ve received various amounts. I’ve seen $900 a shot. I’ve seen $1,800 a shot. I’ve seen $8,000 a shot. … But I mean, honestly, I don’t know. I know I paid a copay out of pocket yesterday of $60, and that’s always an expense you don’t plan on.”
Before the fox was caught, it had been seen by several people on Monday night. After that, reports of fox bites began to come in, a Capitol Police spokesman told NPR via email Tuesday.
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Before the fox was caught, it had been seen by several people on Monday night. After that, reports of fox bites began to come in, a Capitol Police spokesman told NPR via email Tuesday.
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Erin Fox is the senior director of pharmacy at the University of Utah Health. One of the things her team does is monitor drug shortages and set drug prices.
When it comes to rabies vaccines, Fox says there are three US suppliers and two immunoglobulin suppliers. While that may sound like a small number, Fox says the number is pretty much on par with similar drugs in the United States.
But the high prices of the drugs fell in part because of the number of people who needed them.
“If you think about it, even though a large number of people are bitten each year, it is still a fairly underutilized product,” says Fox. “So it’s not like a scheduled vaccine that everyone has to get, you know, every X number of years.”
Children do not need to go to school and not everyone needs the rabies vaccine. This leads to a smaller market, and so it makes almost sense, says Fox, that companies are trying to charge enough to still be able to make products.
However, the cost of life-saving treatment can leave uninsured people in debt. Representative Ami Bera, D-Calif., was bitten by the defendant Monday night. Bera, who worked in medicine for 20 years before serving Congress, said people bitten by wild animals should not pay the costs out of their own pocket.
“Price is not the object here,” says Bera. “This is a public health issue where one person doesn’t have enough means but gets bitten, we have to make immunoglobulins and rabies vaccines – like this is a matter of life and death – so our point of view is this. me as a doctor should not be a barrier.”
Sydney Lupkin contributed to this report.
