I had to go to the municipal vet station this morning to renew pooch's
doggie license.  I decided to look into the question about animal bites
further since it seems to be 'the' topic amongst the Israeli LCs
lately.

The very kind, patient vets told me:
1.  Most animal diseases are species specific but there are a few, like
rabies which can transfer.
2.  If a lactating woman were to be bitten by a suspected rabid animal,
she should seek medical care and there is no problem about her receiving
the rabies vaccine.  I was told that theoretically, rabies could be
passed to a human infant through an infected mother although they've
never seen a case of it.
3.  There has never been a proven documented case of a mouse carrying
rabies.  The animal that bit the soldier last year was thought to be
something in the badger family.
4.  The vet says that they get aabout 5 calls a day from parents of kids
who are bit by various (usually pet) mice, hamsters etc.  They don't
advise rabies vaccine.  Dogs, and especially fox (mostly in the
Jerusalem area) are more problematic.
5.  Snake, scorpion and spider venom are chemical in nature.  They would
not likely pass into the mother's milk.  They would be mostly filtered
out by the liver.
6.  There is no problem with a lactating mom being around house-pets.
7.  Caution should be taken with some pets, such as turtles around the
family due to salmanella risk.

****************

By the way, I've had a long-running dispute with the leading spring
(mineral) water company here.  They claim that formula mixed with their
water is the closest thing to mother's milk.  Oh sure.  They have these
"lovely" ads plastered all over the country.  They even give out bottles
of water with artificial nipples attached.  On a recent trip to the
Golan, I visited the plant and took up these issues with one of the
reps.  They assured me that they aren't promoting formula feeding, only
water.  Sure, baby bottles aren't promoting formula feeds either....
I would like send them the info about the hazards of feeding babies
water.  It will probably fall on deaf ears...

Susan Nachman-Srebrnik, LC
Ranana, Israel