October 27, 2021
Media Contact: Breanne Forbes Hubbard, population health manager, breanne.forbes-hubbard@vdh.virginia.gov, 276-759-8297
Mount Rogers Health District Warns Public of Rise in Rabies Cases
(Marion, Va.) – Over the last year, an increased number of rabies cases have been reported in Grayson and Carroll Counties and Galax. It is important for people and pet owners to be aware of how to prevent rabies.
Rabies can be prevented by keeping pet and livestock rabies vaccinations current, avoiding wildlife interactions, and promptly seeking medical care for domestic animals and humans after potential exposures.
If you or your pets have potentially been exposed to rabies or have observed suspicious behavior in wild animals please contact your local health department listed below.
- Grayson County Health Department: (276) 773-2961
- Galax City Health Department: (276) 236-6127
- Carroll County Health Department: (276) 730-3180
Rabies is a viral disease of the nervous system that can affect all mammals, including humans. The virus is most commonly transmitted by the bite of an infected animal, but may also be spread by contact with infectious matter. The virus travels slowly from the infection site through the nervous system to the brain, and can take from two weeks to several months for symptoms to appear. Infected individuals/animals may appear healthy during this time, and bite wounds may heal normally. Once symptoms appear, rabies is 100% fatal.
Most rabies infections in our area include skunk, raccoon, bats, and foxes. While less common, rabies also occurs locally in groundhogs, equines, and cattle. Among domestic animals, cats are most commonly infected. Contrary to false memes on social media, the Virginia opossum can also carry rabies.
Exposure to bats is the main cause of domestically-acquired human rabies in the United States. A bat found in your house is potentially an exposure, and should be reported, even if no contact was witnessed or remembered. The teeth of bats are tiny and extremely sharp, allowing bites to go unnoticed.
For humans exposed to rabies, post-exposure treatment is available, and is considered 100% effective at preventing rabies if followed on schedule. In order to work, this treatment must be started soon after exposure. Intervention for exposed pets and livestock must also begin promptly. Notify the local health department as soon as possible after any potential rabies exposures – this can save lives.
Clinical rabies symptoms may include:
| · Headache (head pressing in animals), · Light sensitivity, · Erratic behavior, · Aggression, · Inability to drink or swallow, · Fever, · Vomiting, · Food refusal, · Lethargy, · Impaired balance, |
· Weakness, · Paralysis, · Seizures, · Difficulty breathing, · Hyper-salivation, · Lack of fear in wildlife, · Self-mutilation, · Coma, · Death. |
Some infected animals tend more toward depressive behavior, isolating and refusing to move. Others become hyper-aggressive. After onset of clinical symptoms, animals generally succumb to the disease (die) within 10 days. Rabies testing samples are taken from the head/neck area of an animal– please keep this in mind if an animal is deceased or must be euthanized.
More information on rabies is available from your local health district, your healthcare provider or at www.vdh.virginia.gov/epidemiology/epidemiology-fact-sheets/rabies/.
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