Against the backdrop of a rising sun, a small group of Airmen make their way stealthily around the in search of the enemy.

Their mission is safeguarding the Airmen, Soldiers and Department of Defense contractors assigned here from some dangerous intruders: stray animals.

Team of pest management technicians -- from the 506th Expeditionary Civil Engineers Squadron -- traps and deterrence are a daily task as they try to reduce the amount of stray animals roaming freely here.

The stray animal population does present a deadly threat to humans because they may have rabies, said Tech. Sgt. Stacy Wallett, a pest management technician deployed here from McConnell Air Force Base, Kan.

Many deployed Airmen and Soldiers may not automatically understand the full danger of rabies because it is almost unknown in domestic animal populations in North America, he said.
But according to figures provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of rabies-related human deaths in the United States have dropped from more than 100 at the turn of the century to just one or two annually. More than 90 percent of reported cases each year occur in wildlife rather than domestic animals.

That isn’t the case here.

Within the last month a dog captured on the base tested positive for the rabies virus, said Army Capt. (Dr.) Kristie Souders, officer in charge of the 72nd Medical Detachment veterinary clinic. She’s deployed here from Giebelstadt, Germany.
“The big thing people should keep in mind is that (Kirkuk residents) don’t keep dogs as pets,” she said.

She said it isn’t likely any of the dogs or cats found here are really domesticated, at least not the way most people think of domestication.

One Arab cultural specialist agrees.

Capt. Matthew Ence, a foreign affairs officer for 9th Air Force at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., said in many Arab countries dogs and cats are seen as little more than pests. He said it would be rare for a middle income Arab family to keep one as a pet inside their home.

The CDC reports that worldwide, exposure to rabid dogs is still the cause of more than 90 percent of human exposure to rabies and causes more than 99 percent of the human deaths annually.

In the case of the rabid dog caught here, Dr. Souders said, it “acted like it wanted to be played with, then it turned on them.”

“I don’t care how cuddly it’s been. It could change and be totally different,” she said.
Dr. Souders said they only submit animals for testing if the animal has caused a problem, such as the case of the antagonistic dog that turned up positive with rabies.

Rabies is a preventable disease that affects the central nervous system. Once it enters the body through a bite or other wound, it begins to navigate its way to the brain. During the period when the virus is traveling to the brain, referred to as the incubation period, the animal may seem normal.

“Once it affects their brain, it will change,” she said. “You can’t predict how they are going to act.”

The symptoms that most people associate with rabies -- the aggressive behavior and increased salivation, or foaming at the mouth -- begin once the brain become infected. Once it reaches the brain the disease is always fatal. There is no treatment available after symptoms appear, for neither animal nor human.

“If you get bit, and you don’t report it, and you get rabies, you will die,” said Maj. (Dr.) John Harrah, director of emergency services for the 506th Expeditionary Medical Squadron. He’s deployed from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

The squadron’s medical director, Lt. Col. (Dr.) James Freese, also from Eglin, said, “We don’t treat simple exposure unless we know the animal is rabid.”
However, he said, if the animal is rabid, doctors will treat everyone exposed, regardless of the extent of their exposure.

The post exposure treatment for rabies is a series of five shots, beginning immediately after exposure and continuing at planned intervals with the last one being at 28 days.
The success of the post exposure treatment is very high. According to the CDC “there have been no vaccine failures in the United States” when post exposure treatment was given quickly and correctly.

In addition to the threat of death or a painful treatment regiment, military justice is another reason to avoid stray animal contact.

Here, General Order 1A, which applies to all assigned military, specifically prohibits “adopting as pets or mascots, caring for or feeding any type of domestic or wild animal.”

And yet, the risky and illegal behavior continues.

“We found a place where someone appeared to have set up a feeding station for the local canine population,” said Tech. Sgt. Bruce Gazaway, a pest management technician deployed from Kulis Air National Guard Base, Alaska.

The sergeant said the “well-intentioned Good Samaritan” actually endangered everyone around them by attracting stray dogs to the area.

“They just aren’t thinking,” he said.