Environmental Health

Forms and Applications

Zoonotic Disease: Animal Bites

Drinking Water

Garfield County Health District provides the regular service of testing drinking water.
Samples can then be sent to Anatek Lab or taken by our Environmental Health Specialist to be tested in Walla Walla. Please contact the Health District for cost and to pick up a water testing kit.

Laws and regulations:

Public Water Supplies

Group Public Water Systems

Food Cards

If you are a worker in a food establishment than you are required to obtain a food ser

vice card within 14 days of employment at that establishment. A food service card can be obtained at any county health department through out the state once you have a card it is valid state wide.

If you are a food worker from outside the state and that state also has a food service card program, you are still required to have a Washington Food Service card.

To obtain a food service card please contact Garfield County Health District 843-3412.

Click here for more information.

Food Service

The Garfield County Health District is responsible for ensuring that safe food handling practices are being conducted in all Food Service Establishments in Garfield County. We do this by conducting routine inspections and through complaint investigation.

Click here for more information.

Sewage

The On-site sewage program is responsible for ensuring threats to public health from sewage exposure are kept to a minimum. This program insures that septic systems are designed, installed, and maintained properly, to protect ground and surface water.

Program functions include:

Site evaluation and review for suitable soil and existing lot features
Permit Issuance for all new, altered, and repaired systems
Final construction inspections
Short plat, special property use,and boundary line adjustment review
Certification of pumpers and installers
Enforcement of WAC 246-272A

Solid Waste

Garfield County is responsible for investigating solid waste complaints within the county. Please call with any questions or concerns.

Swimming Pools

This program issues operating permits, conducts field inspections, and evaluates performance to assure public health and safety standards are being maintained. During field inspections, chemical testing is used to evaluate water quality, water monitoring and record keeping is reviewed, facility maintenance is evaluated, education materials are provided and compliance/enforcement of regulations is discussed as necessary.

Click here for more information.

Zoonotic Disease Control

Animal Bites

Animal Bites in Washington: A Quick History
In Washington State, the chance of getting rabies from a cat or dog bite is very low. However, if a bat or other wild animal bites you, the chance is slightly higher. The last case of rabies found in dogs in Washington State was in 1977 and the last case of rabies in cats was in 2002. Bats are the main carrier of rabies in Washington State; approximately ten-percent of all bats in Washington carry rabies.

Rabies Symptoms
Rabies symptoms in animals include the following:

Behavior change
Excessive drooling or sometimes foaming in the mouth
Difficulty swallowing
Loss of coordination or paralysis
Drooping of the lower jaw
Unusually aggressive or vicious behavior or unusual lethargy

If your animal has bitten a human or other animal and displays these symptoms, immediately contact the health district at (509) 843-3412 during business hours or the sheriff's office at (509) 843-3494 if it is after hours.

So You've Been Bitten. What Next?
Step 1. See Your Health Care Provider
It is important to see your health care provider after being bitten by any animal for two reasons. First, you need to keep the wound from getting infected by having it properly cleaned and dressed by your health care provider. Second, you need to make sure that your tetanus shots are up-to-date. This is another way to prevent infection. If you were born in the United States, you likely had these shots when you were young; however, as an adult, you need a booster shot every 10 years.

Step 2. Contact the Health District
The Animal Bite Report is the MOST IMPORTANT piece of information that you can provide to local public health officials when an animal bites you. Without an Animal Bite Report, the Health District has no way to contact the owner of the animal or conduct an investigation. It is important that you fill this form out as completely as possible. If you don't know the owner, please provide where the bite occurred and as complete a description of the animal as possible. If you believe the animal was a stray, the Health District can put you in touch with animal control so that they may search for the animal.

What Do We Do With the Animals?
Many people are afraid to tell anyone that their pet bit them because they don't want anything to happen to the animal. Don't worry...the standard procedure when a dog or cat bites is to quarantine the animal for ten days.

The word quarantine means to keep in a contained location in order to watch for signs of disease. In the case of an animal that bites a person, we are watching for signs of rabies. The main requirement is that it stays away from all humans and animals except for its primary caretaker for TEN DAYS. If the animal were not quarantined and developed rabies, we may not diagnose the rabies soon enough to get the victim medical care. Once rabies symptoms develop in humans, the disease is fatal.

In the rare case that an animal dies during the quarantine period, we will test the animal to rule out that rabies as the cause of death.

Click here for more information on Zoonotic Disease Control.

Public Health