In August 2011, a case of canine rabies was notified to the French Veterinary Services. A French family from the Vendee travelled to Morocco on holiday, and whilst there, they ‘adopted’ a stray 3-month old puppy, which they illegally imported to France.
The puppy presented behavioural changes on 1 August and was admitted to a veterinary clinic on 6 August. It died the following day and the body was shortly sent to the national reference centre where rabies was laboratory-confirmed on 11 August. Contact tracing and post-exposure treatment were initiated immediately
Read the full story here and a further article discussing the need for anti-rabies injections.