Animal Control Officer Training Manual
The Animal Control Officer Training Manual is a study guide prepared by the Texas Department of State Health Services' Zoonosis Control Branch (ZCB).

This document has been designed to be a guide for medical care providers (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory workers) in the evaluation of possible exposures of humans to rabies virus and for the treatment of probable exposures. Information valuable to veterinarians and animal control officers who are submitting animal specimens for rabies evaluation is also included.

Rabies Prevention in Texas includes sections on:

• rabies biologicals,
• management of biting animals,
• collection and submission of animal specimens for rabies testing at the DSHS laboratory in Austin,
• a list of and contact information for DSHS-designated laboratories,
• the management of domestic animals exposed to rabid animals,
• rabies post-exposure prophylaxis for humans with a guide for determining if it is necessary,
• a list of and contact information for laboratories that provide RFFIT (rabies titer) testing,
• pre-exposure vaccination for humans,  
• adverse reactions, precautions, and contraindications of rabies vaccine,
• distribution points for human rabies biologicals,
• and contact information for the Regional Zoonosis Control offices and the Zoonosis Control Branch. 

Rabies Prevention in Texas (PDF) has been placed on the Internet so that professionals involved with evaluating and treating possible human exposures to rabies virus will have the needed information available to them everyday, twenty-four hours a day.

Additional Resources: 

• Animal Rabies Prevention and Control Compendium and Resources from the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians
• Oral Rabies Vaccination Program (ORVP)