WORCESTER COUNTY– The first two cases of feline rabies in the county in four years have been confirmed by Worcester County Health Department officials, who reported separate incidents near Berlin and in Pocomoke in the same week.
A rabid cat bit a woman in the Pocomoke River State Park-Milburn Landing campground area on Monday, Sept. 15. Health officials captured the cat, a medium adult male with dark gray with white under its chin and belly, euthanized it and sent it to the State Laboratories Administration Rabies Lab for confirmation.
On Thursday, the department confirmed the second case, described as a small black and orange female cat that was part of a free-roaming colony living on an unoccupied property near Old Ocean City Road.
Janet Tull, rabies coordinator for the department, called two cases in one week “a statistically significant number.”
“If you look at the statistics on our Web page, we have had other rabid cats in the county, but to get two in one week, that is fairly unusual,” she said.
Tull said last week’s incidents were the county’s first reported cases in cats this year, and the first since 2011.
“We have had other incidents where cats have been attacked by rabid animals,” she said. “Part of our responsibility is to manage those cats once they have been attacked by a potentially rabid animal. So there have been other cats that have been attacked and potentially exposed, but they have either been quarantined or euthanized in accordance with their rabies vaccination status.
“Other than the coincidence of date, these two incidents are completely unrelated and that is what makes it unusual,” Tull said. “I believe that it’s indicative of the fact that nationally and in Maryland cats are the number one domestic animal that contracts rabies.”
Last year the state reported 24 rabid cats – and just one rabid dog. Cats are at high risk for rabies because of low vaccination rates compared to dogs, and because many live or are fed outdoors in locations that tend to draw wildlife.
“The opportunity for exposure is elevated for outdoor cats,” Tull said. “They’re the number one domestic animal that tends to contract rabies because of opportunity.”
Tull could not give specific information about the bite victim because of the government’s health privacy restrictions, although she did confirm that the woman received a rabies vaccination following the incident.
“There’s an effective treatment in humans if it’s given promptly after an exposure and that was done in this case,” she said. “The fact that she was bitten by a symptomatic cat … her medical care would have been managed by her doctors and so forth, but I’m quite certain that she received that treatment.”
Worcester county officials confirmed 14 cases of rabies – nine raccoons, one fox, one bat, two cats and one skunk – in 2014.
Department officials advise anyone who sees a wild animal behaving in an aggressive or unusual manner to report it immediately to law enforcement or animal control and to prevent further contact by keeping pets and people away. First responders contact the health department after making an on-scene assessment.
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there about what constitutes or what looks like a rabid animal,” Tull said. “An animal that is showing unusual behavior, such as no fear of humans or no fear of large dogs, something that clearly is not indicative of what a healthy raccoon, fox or what have you would do, that needs to be reported immediately so first responders can assess as to whether or not that animal appears to be sick.
If a pet has had contact, do not touch the pet barehanded, she said.
“If, in the event that there is domestic animal contact – the dog fights with a raccoon or if there is a human contact – that is an immediate call to get a response so that we can get that animal and make a decision as to whether it needs to be tested,” Tull said. “Rabies is always present at some level in this county – we just don’t know where it is or where the next exposure may come from.”
Tull said it is critical for pet owners to vaccinate their pets, to keep all pet food indoors and to limit pet exposure to wild animals. The state requires up-to-date vaccination records for all dogs, cats and ferrets.
“We want to make sure that good information goes out to the public. Our Web site has all of the standard recommendations for prevention that people can do and, if contact occurs, what needs to happen.”
Worcester County Health Department and Animal Control will hold rabies clinics at the Stockton Fire Hall on Wednesday, Oct 1 and at Showell Fire Hall on Thursday, Oct. 2 from 5:30-7 p.m.
The cost per pet is $5 for Worcester County residents and $10 per pet for nonresidents. Dogs must be on leashes and cat and ferrets must be in carriers with air holes. Proof of residency and previous vaccinations – if applicable – are required.
For more information, call 410-632-4321or visit www.worcesterhealth.org/protect-menu/rabies-exposures-and-animal-bite-investigationsservicesmenu.
A rabid cat bit a woman in the Pocomoke River State Park-Milburn Landing campground area on Monday, Sept. 15. Health officials captured the cat, a medium adult male with dark gray with white under its chin and belly, euthanized it and sent it to the State Laboratories Administration Rabies Lab for confirmation.
On Thursday, the department confirmed the second case, described as a small black and orange female cat that was part of a free-roaming colony living on an unoccupied property near Old Ocean City Road.
Janet Tull, rabies coordinator for the department, called two cases in one week “a statistically significant number.”
“If you look at the statistics on our Web page, we have had other rabid cats in the county, but to get two in one week, that is fairly unusual,” she said.
Tull said last week’s incidents were the county’s first reported cases in cats this year, and the first since 2011.
“We have had other incidents where cats have been attacked by rabid animals,” she said. “Part of our responsibility is to manage those cats once they have been attacked by a potentially rabid animal. So there have been other cats that have been attacked and potentially exposed, but they have either been quarantined or euthanized in accordance with their rabies vaccination status.
“Other than the coincidence of date, these two incidents are completely unrelated and that is what makes it unusual,” Tull said. “I believe that it’s indicative of the fact that nationally and in Maryland cats are the number one domestic animal that contracts rabies.”
Last year the state reported 24 rabid cats – and just one rabid dog. Cats are at high risk for rabies because of low vaccination rates compared to dogs, and because many live or are fed outdoors in locations that tend to draw wildlife.
“The opportunity for exposure is elevated for outdoor cats,” Tull said. “They’re the number one domestic animal that tends to contract rabies because of opportunity.”
Tull could not give specific information about the bite victim because of the government’s health privacy restrictions, although she did confirm that the woman received a rabies vaccination following the incident.
“There’s an effective treatment in humans if it’s given promptly after an exposure and that was done in this case,” she said. “The fact that she was bitten by a symptomatic cat … her medical care would have been managed by her doctors and so forth, but I’m quite certain that she received that treatment.”
Worcester county officials confirmed 14 cases of rabies – nine raccoons, one fox, one bat, two cats and one skunk – in 2014.
Department officials advise anyone who sees a wild animal behaving in an aggressive or unusual manner to report it immediately to law enforcement or animal control and to prevent further contact by keeping pets and people away. First responders contact the health department after making an on-scene assessment.
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there about what constitutes or what looks like a rabid animal,” Tull said. “An animal that is showing unusual behavior, such as no fear of humans or no fear of large dogs, something that clearly is not indicative of what a healthy raccoon, fox or what have you would do, that needs to be reported immediately so first responders can assess as to whether or not that animal appears to be sick.
If a pet has had contact, do not touch the pet barehanded, she said.
“If, in the event that there is domestic animal contact – the dog fights with a raccoon or if there is a human contact – that is an immediate call to get a response so that we can get that animal and make a decision as to whether it needs to be tested,” Tull said. “Rabies is always present at some level in this county – we just don’t know where it is or where the next exposure may come from.”
Tull said it is critical for pet owners to vaccinate their pets, to keep all pet food indoors and to limit pet exposure to wild animals. The state requires up-to-date vaccination records for all dogs, cats and ferrets.
“We want to make sure that good information goes out to the public. Our Web site has all of the standard recommendations for prevention that people can do and, if contact occurs, what needs to happen.”
Worcester County Health Department and Animal Control will hold rabies clinics at the Stockton Fire Hall on Wednesday, Oct 1 and at Showell Fire Hall on Thursday, Oct. 2 from 5:30-7 p.m.
The cost per pet is $5 for Worcester County residents and $10 per pet for nonresidents. Dogs must be on leashes and cat and ferrets must be in carriers with air holes. Proof of residency and previous vaccinations – if applicable – are required.
For more information, call 410-632-4321or visit www.worcesterhealth.org/protect-menu/rabies-exposures-and-animal-bite-investigationsservicesmenu.