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Thursday, September 09, 2004, 10:00 EDT (10:00 AM EDT)CDCHAN-00213-2004-09-09-UPD-SThe European Commission last week issued an urgent notice regarding a European-wide search for people who may have had recent contact with a rabid dog in southwestern France. CDC is providing information about this situation in the event that state and local health departments receive inquiries from persons who may have traveled recently in Europe.On August 26, laboratory testing at the Pasteur Institute in Paris confirmed that the dog was rabid. The infected dog, a 4-month-old female pup that had been illegally imported into France in July, died on August 21. The rabid animal is thought to have had multiple opportunities to transmit the disease to humans and other animals in southwestern France between August 2 and August 21, according to the European Commission's notice. As of August 31, approximately 300 people (all French) had contacted health authorities about having had possible contact with the rabid dog, and 47 of these persons had been referred for rabies postexposure prophylaxis.U.S. residents who visited southwestern France (refer to the Eurosurveillance Weekly article below for map) and believe they may have had contact with the infected dog should contact their state or local health department.2004Canine Rabies, 2004VirusRabies viru