Animal Bites & Rabies

Animal Bite Reporting is required by law (OAR 333-019-0024) for the purpose of assessing the risk of rabies exposure in a person bitten or otherwise exposed to animal saliva.

Formal bite notifications are made by hospital ED's, Urgent Care clinics, and doctor's offices, usually via a faxed form, and it is the provider's obligation to report the bite to us immediately. 

Download the Animal Bite Reporting Form (PDF).

The Health Officer and County Communicable Disease nurses work with Yamhill County Dog Control officers and consult with the Acute and Communicable Disease Program (ACDP) State Veterinarian regarding the disposition of animals and whether human rabies prophylaxis is recommended.

The local health department role includes:

  • Assigning high or low risk for rabies, regarding the circumstances of the bite.
  • Assessing vaccination status of a cat or dog that has bitten.
  • Recommendation of an observational period of 10 days for any dog, cat or ferret that has bitten.
  • Authorization and/or provision for euthanasia and rabies testing. This includes other wild mammals (i.e. bats) suspected of having rabies that have bitten a human.
  • Yamhill County Public Health, in consultation with the State Veterinarian, directs local veterinarians to the appropriate laboratory for rabies testing (Oregon Diagnostic Lab at Oregon State University in Corvallis or Oregon State Public Health lab in Hillsboro)

For more resources, see the following links: