Dog from Egypt with phony papers had rabies, forcing NJ dogs into quarantine

Concerns a dog rescued from the streets of Cairo had rabies forced four dogs in New Jersey into quarantine for six months, according to the CDC

The Cairo dog was one of eight dogs and 27 cats brought to the United States in May and given to animal rescue groups in four states.

It was shipped with falsified papers and discovered to have had an unhealed fracture of the left forelimb in Virginia, according to the CDC. Because of possible rabies, the dog was euthanized and later was confirmed by the General Services Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services to in fact have the disease.

Investigators then began looking at the exposure the rest of the animals had to humans during their time in the U.S. from their arrival at John F. Kennedy Airport to individual animal shelters, the CDC said.

The New Jersey Department of Health interviewed volunteers from a canine rescue group in New Jersey that had received four of the dogs. All four dogs received either their initial rabies vaccination or a rabies booster vaccination and were ordered to be confined inside for six months, according to the CDC.

NJ Advance Media reported that the dogs were at kept at a small Hudson County animal shelter and monitored by the shelter's owner. The quarantine period ended on Nov. 30.