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JAMA. 1999;281:1371-1372.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

MMWR. 1999;48:228-229

Rabies is a viral zoonosis that is usually transmitted by the bite of an infected mammal. However, in Massachusetts, two incidents have been reported since 1996 of potential mass exposures to rabies through drinking unpasteurized milk. This report presents the investigations of these two incidents.

Incident 1

On November 12, 1998, the Virology Laboratory of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (VLMDPH) diagnosed rabies in a 6-year-old Holstein dairy cow from a farm in Worcester County. Further analysis of the cow's brain tissue with monoclonal antibodies revealed the cow was infected with a variant of the rabies virus associated with raccoons in the eastern United States.

The cow had loss of appetite beginning November 4 and hypersalivation beginning November 6. An intestinal obstruction was suspected initially as the cause of illness. However, the cow became ataxic and aggressive and died on November 8.

The cow had been milked . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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