County health officials are cautioning citizens about an increase in rabies cases especially in the Apex NC area. A recent encounter between two dogs and a rabid raccoon has resulted in the death of the coon and one dog on 6 month quarantine at the dog owner’s expense. The other dog was up to date with its rabies shot so it was given a booster and allowed to return home with his owner.
Rabies although the disease of horror stories is really still a scary disease and results in numerous human deaths each year throughout the world. Asia and Africa account for many of the 55,000 annual deaths to this disease but exposures and death in the United States is not unheard of. 90% of all exposures in the United States are directly from wildlife so people should avoid contact with wild animals. Raccoons, foxes, feral cats and bats are the most common carriers so caution especially young family members to avoid contact with strange animals. Any mammal is capable of spreading the disease once they have been exposed rabies is passed in the saliva. This is another good reason to not leave pet food dishes outside where wild critters can access it. Keep your pets shots up to date and any scratch or bites by strange animals should be treated by a medical professional.
