Wednesday, March 26, 1997
What ever happened in the great Oahu rabies scare of the latter 1960s? ’60s rabies scare was misdiagnosis
On Oct. 5, 1967, the Army and the state announced an 8-year-old Schofield boy had been bitten by a rat diagnosed as rabid. But repeated tests at mainland laboratories failed to show any rabies.
It later came out that misdiagnosis and laboratory mix-ups accounted for the scare, which was triggered by the Army Medical Laboratory, under the direction of Lt. Col. Edward E. Dean, a veterinarian who had diagnosed 27 cases, with the assistance of state Veterinarian-Pathologist Dr. Frederick Lynd.
Five enlisted men accused the colonel of misdiagnosis in letters to congressmen. An investigation upheld the accusations on Jan. 16, 1968, and Dean was transferred.
It took more than three months for the Army and state to admit a mistake. Hawaii was still rabies-free. But thousands of cats, dogs and other pets received anti-rabies shots. An estimated 60,000 doses of vaccine were received from the mainland by Oahu veterinarians.
Some 2,500 dogs and cats were put to sleep by the Humane Society. Eighty-one persons received anti-rabies shots from the Army after they were bitten or scratched by suspicious animals. Civilian physicians gave an estimated 50 or more anti-rabies shots.
On Jan. 18, the state lifted an inter-island restriction on animal shipments. The state continued its animal quarantine, in effect since 1912.