2010-01-10 06:38:12 - Epidemic Hazard - USA EDIS CODE: EH-20100110-24486-USA
Date & Time: 2010-01-10 06:38:12 [UTC]
Area: USA, State of California, , Chatham Not confirmed information! Description: A fox that was killed by borough police after it bit a North Carolina man visiting in Chatham has tested positive for rabies, according to Chatham Borough Detective Michael Bochniak. On Thursday, Dec. 31, the state Department of Health and Senior Services confirmed the suspected diagnosis of the rabies virus, Bochniak said. “We are advising people that if they see any animals who are falling down, turning in circles, biting itself, convulsing, or exhibiting unprovoked aggressive behavior, they should avoid contact and notify their local police department immediately,” said Bochniak. Two people in Chatham were bitten by the fox - one on Thursday, Dec. 24, and the other on Christmas Day Thursday, Dec. 25. A nine-year-old child living on Inwood Circle was bitten on Dec. 24, and an adult male visiting a Chatham household on Edgehill Avenue was bitten on Christmas. After responding to the first incident, police searched the area but could not locate the fox. During the second incident the fox was immediately located and killed by police. According to Mayor Nelson Vaughan, who called the North Carolina man to see how he was faring, the rabid fox charged the police officer as he was getting out of his patrol car. “He told me the fox went straight towards the police officer,” said Vaughan. “The officer responded very quickly shooting the fox dead.” None of the bites were life threatening, but had the victims not received a series of rabies shots, it could have been, said Vaughan. The animal’s remains were sent to Trenton where it was tested for rabies. “We have got to outfox these foxes,” Vaughan said. Vaughan also called the mother of the nine-year-old to see how he was doing. “When I got the report from the state, I gave it to her,” he said. “She told me the child’s doctor did not want to give the full round of shots. I told her to take the report to the physician and tell him the fox was definitely rabid.” Since the incidents, St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center has been working with the borough police. “We are telling people, if they see an aggressive animal or one that seems to have neurological problems to call us and we will go out and investigate,” said Jacqueline Fahey, animal welfare director. Nothing has been reported so far, she said, and it is not likely that anything will. It seems this fox was an isolated case. Fahey said it is highly unusual for a fox to get rabies. “They are much too fast,” she said. It is likely that a bat, which are the most probable carriers of the rabies virus today, bit this particular fox. In the past, raccoons have been the usual suspects, but now it is rare that a raccoon will host the rabies virus, said Fahey. Small animals, squirrels and rodents can contract the disease, but not serious carriers. “These animals don’t live long enough to spread the disease,” she said.
The name of Hazard: Rabies
Species: Spread
Status: Confirmed
|
