More about rabies

From my old hometown:

1/16/2009



The Suffolk County Department of Health Services reported that terrestrial animal rabies has been confirmed in a raccoon found in Huntington, Suffolk County. The raccoon was found dead on Dewey St. on January 8, 2009. The Suffolk County Department of Health Services submitted the specimen to the New York State Department of Health Rabies Laboratory, where the rabies virus was confirmed. There was no known human contact with the raccoon.

This is Suffolk County's nineteenth case of terrestrial animal rabies since March of 2006 when the first case was found. All cases have been from the Huntington/Lloyd Harbor area.

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Suffolk County has been actively distributing oral rabies vaccine to wildlife since September 2006. This has been complemented by similar efforts in Nassau County. The goal of this program is to vaccinate terrestrial wildlife against rabies in order to prevent further spread on Long Island.

In this map of Long Island, Suffolk County essentially extends from "Melville" on the west all the way to Montauk and Orient Points on the east.

And this closeup shows the area where all of the rabies cases have been found.

Suffolk's got about 6 times the population of Durham County, but only about double the population density. Huntington Township, the area where all of Suffolk's rabies incidents have occurred, has a population nearly that of Durham's (just under 200000 in 2000) in about 1/8 the area. Compare Huntington to the City of Durham, however, and things are much more alike, with both municipalities covering an area a little under 100 square miles, and densities around 200 people per square mile.

19 rabies cases in 3 years averages a little over one every two months. In Durham, we've had 4 in about 6 months.

Do we even have a response from the County Health Department, or is all of this being placed on our already overworked Animal Control Department to manage?

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Rabies update

From Durham County Animal Control

This marks the fourth positive rabies case in this year for Durham County. Since January Animal Control has sent 31 bats removed from homes, 7 cats, 3 foxes, 2 raccoons, 1 beaver, 1 dog, 1 skunk and a vole. Only the foxes and the skunk proved to be rabid.

Animal Control officials warn that while there may be only 4 recorded positive rabies results since January this year that number is not indicative of the number of animals that may be positive within the territorial boundaries of the County. Animals are only sent in for testing for rabies when results need to be determined because they have exposed a human or a pet. Sick or injured animals that are impounded, but have not exposed domestic animals or pets are euthanized, but not tested.

Animal Control officials also warn citizens to stay away from wild animals and to refrain from feeding them in their backyards. While they may appear cute and beautiful to watch, they pose a great health and safety risk to humans and pets should they become infected with the disease. It is better to not escalate that risk by inviting wild animals to visit residential areas.

Durham County Animal Control also offers low cast rabies vaccinations to owners of dogs and cats for $10.00 at their office located at 3005 Glenn Road in Durham. Vaccination times are from 10:00AM to 12:00PM and from 2:00PM to 4:00PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If the times are inconvenient, citizens should call the office to make an appointment for a different weekday.

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Rabies

Herald-Sun:

A gray fox Tuesday emerged from the woods near Westminster School for Young Children and bit a student, a little girl, on the leg.

The animal ran into the woods but was captured.

"Eight animal-control officers responded -- promptly," said the Old Chapel Hill Road school's director, Kathy Stickley.

The fox was killed, and a sample has been sent to a lab for rabies testing, Durham County Animal Control Director Cindy Bailey said. Results are expected today.

Stickley sent home a note explaining that the children were on the playground when the fox slipped in and attacked the child.

After the fox attacked, a staff member called 911, and then called the little girl's mother. Emergency personnel showed up and treated the child.

The little girl's classmates were intrigued by the fox.

"They're very interested in it," said Stickley, who praised her staff for keeping the kids calm and otherwise handling the situation.

Bailey recommended that the children stay off the playground for a while. The dead fox was a juvenile, so there could be a litter of young foxes lurking in the nearby woods, Bailey said.

Bailey's officers have set traps to apprehend any foxes that might venture outside of the woods.

Same story, reported by the N&O:

A young fox climbed into a fenced play yard at a Durham day care Tuesday morning and bit a 4-year-old girl.

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George Strader, a state wildlife biologist, said fox attacks are uncommon and typically indicate rabies.

"These are actually the first I've heard of this year," he said.

Animal control personnel in both counties blamed the attacks on rabies.

"He looked like Marty Feldman," Hess said of the gray fox he caught after the Chapel Hill attacks. "That's a furious form of rabies."

Both foxes were sent to the N.C. State Laboratory for Public Health for rabies tests. The victims will need vaccines.

"All the indicators ... would say yes," Durham animal control administrator Cindy Bailey said of the likelihood of rabid foxes. "Those are not actions that a healthy fox would take. They would retreat from a child and go back in the woods."

The first attack occurred about 10 a.m. Tuesday on the playground at Westminster School for Young Children in Durham. The fox chased some children and bit one girl on the back of the leg before escaping.


Responding to a 911 call, eight Durham Animal Control officers were able to trap the animal in a large trash can.

"It angrily pulled everything that was in the trash can out," Bailey said. "I had my entire field staff out there. ... They were using the trash can to shield their bodies from the fox."

Thumbs up to the N&O for getting the significance of the story out there. Next time you get a chance, ask the Durham County Commissioners just how many pets in the county are actually registered and up-to-date on their rabies vaccines.

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