Digital Commons Network^™

Use Of Infrared Thermography To Detect Signs Of Rabies Infection In Raccoons (Procyon Lotor), Mike R. Dunbar, Kathleen A. Maccarthy B.S.

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Infrared thermography was evaluated as a technique to determine if raccoons (Procyon lotor) experimentally infected with rabies virus could be differentiated from non-infected raccoons. Following a 10-day adjustment period, raccoons (n = 6) were infected with a virulent rabies street strain raccoon variant by injection into the masseter muscle at a dose of 2 x 10⁴ tissue-culture infectious dose (TCID₅₀) in 0.2 ml (n = 4) or 10⁵ TCID₅₀ in 1 ml (n = 2). Five of the six raccoons developed prodromal signs of rabies 17 to 22 days post-inoculation …