A Castro Valley family is calling out the military, saying Livermore soldier Kevin Shumaker should not have died of rabies.
Shumaker died from the disease on Aug. 31, eight months after he was first bit by a dog.
His mother, Emily Taylor, told the Mercury News, "If he would have died from an enemy attack we would've been devastated, but we knew he was in harm's way when he was deployed...I would not be without my son if the proper treatment was given to Kevin. Rabies is 100 percent preventable with the right vaccine, but without that treatment you die."
In January, stray dogs attacked some of the dogs on base and Shumaker was bitten trying to break up the dogfight.
His mother told the Mercury News he was treated for rabies on the base, but only got three of the six injections in the series needed to fight the disease because the other three shots were expired.
U.S. Central Command is investigating the incident.
Shumaker did not show rabies symptoms until he was assigned to Fort Drum in New York in August. That's when his arm started tingling. Doctors thought it was tendinitis and released him. Less than a week later, he collapsed while at work.
Local
Shumaker was dead by the end of the month. He is the only person in the U.S. to die from rabies this year.
His mother says he was cremated on Wednesday and his remains are on their way home to Castro Valley.
