Rabies On The Rise?
June 28, 2009
Rabies is one disease you don’t want to mess with because if it is not treated within a narrow window it is almost always fatal. North Carolina is one of the top states when it comes to reported cases within animals so the odds of an encounter with a rabid animal is not out of the realm of possibilities. Most of the reported cases are in foxes, raccoons and skunks but other mammals can be rabid including deer.
Recently the local news has reported a number of rabies exposures in the Triangle area. With all the development there has been a lot of encroachment on the wildlife. Raccoons & Foxes have adapted pretty well to life in suburbia and that has probably contributed to increase in their populations and now the increase in rabies.
Now, raccoons are the most common carriers of the virus, accounting for at least half of the state’s reported cases.
Dr. Marilyn Haskell, a public health veterinarian with the state Division of Public Health, said raccoons, skunks and other carnivorous mammals are perfect hosts for the virus, spreading it in their saliva when they bite.
The virus harbors in muscle tissue and eventually travels to the brain, where it multiplies rapidly and eventually causes the telltale erratic and aggressive behavior.
“It’s hard to predict how a rabid animal will behave,” Haskell said. She said separate bizarre cases this weekin Orange and Durham counties, in which rabid foxes chased down people, underscore the need to remain wary of all wildlife — even if the animals at first appear benign.
“What we’re trying to do is get the public health message out to people so they won’t approach or feed or have any contact with wildlife,” Haskell said. She said parents especially should teach children to be cautious.
“It’s not a virus you want to play around with,” Haskell said.
Unless people are treated with vaccines and immune boosters, they will die from the virus after suffering anxiety, confusion, hallucinations and delirium.
People should make sure that all their cats & dogs are up to date with their shots. Secure trash cans to eliminate access, and don’t leave pets food dishes out.
Wake County Rabies Info Web Page
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Rabid animals are nothing to mess around with. That disease is very awful and it is bad enough to see an animal go through it never mind a human.