Human rabies--Florida, 2004.

Rabies is a viral infection of the central nervous system, usually contracted from the bite of an infected animal, and nearly always fatal without postexposure prophylaxis. In February 2004, a man aged 41 years died after a 4-day hospitalization in Broward County, Florida. A diagnosis of rabies was considered on the day before the patient's death; however, no antemortem samples were obtained for testing. In March 2004, postmortem samples of fixed brain material were sent to CDC, where laboratory testing confirmed a diagnosis of rabies, the 47th case of human rabies reported in the United States since 1990 (CDC, unpublished data, 2005). This report summarizes results of the subsequent investigation led by the Broward County Health Department and laboratory testing at CDC, which determined that the rabies virus was a canine variant present in Haiti, where the man had traveled and reportedly been bitten by a dog. Rabies should be considered in persons after a dog bite, especially if the bite occurs in a country where canine rabies is enzootic.