Confirmed rabies case in Bristol prompts warning

Rabies red flags

The discovery of a raccoon out in the middle of the day is a sign it has rabies. Here are a few other red flags:

• The animal is acting strangely, may seem anxious and uncomfortable;
• The animal has problems walking or struggles to move around;
• The animal shows no signs of fear when confronted by another animal or human being.

Rabies cases over the past three years

Sixty-one animals with confirmed cases of rabies were found in the Mountain Empire between Jan. 1, 2009, and May 21, 2011, according to the Tennessee and Virginia health departments.

Southwest Virginia         2011       2010       2009

Bristol                            2              1              0

Buchanan County             0              0              0

Dickenson County             0              0              0

Norton                            0              0              0

Russell County                 0              0              0

Scott County                   0              0              1

Smyth County                  0              6              6

Tazewell County               2              8              3

Washington County       0              1              2

Wise County                    0              0              0             

Total cases statewide      237          573          564

Northeast Tennessee      2011       2010       2009

Carter County                   0              1              3

Johnson County                 0              0              2

Hawkins County                 1              0              1

Sullivan County                  1              9              11

Washington County            0              0              1

Total cases statewide       24            75            84

Dena Bouton knew something was wrong when she got a call about a strange-acting raccoon spotted on the 1770 block of King Mill Pike shortly before noon Friday.

  “A raccoon being out in the middle of the day should be your first red flag,” said the animal control officer for the city’s Police Department, adding that raccoons only venture out at dawn, dusk, or late at night.

Bouton also said the raccoon was walking funny and didn’t seem to be afraid of humans that approached it or a dog that was barking at the animal when she arrived. So she captured the raccoon and had it tested for rabies.

When that test came back positive, she knew it was time to issue a simple warning: “Rabies is here and it’s always been here,” Bouton said Tuesday. “You’ve got to get your animals vaccinated for rabies. Just get them vaccinated.”

Rabies is a virus that causes a fever, headaches, discomfort, weakness, insomnia, anxiety, paralysis, over-salivating, difficulty swallowing, a fear of water and eventually death when it infects an animal’s central nervous system. It can spread to humans when wild animals known to carry the virus – typically raccoons, skunks, foxes and bats -- bite someone or their pet.

The rabid raccoon caught Friday was the third rabid animal found in Bristol, Va.., over the past two-and-a-half years, according to Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Epidemiology. Health officials also reported finding a rabid skunk in Bristol earlier this year and a rabid bat in 2010.

A total of 61 rabid animals have been found in the Mountain Empire since January 2009, according to the Virginia and Tennessee health departments, most in Smyth and Tazewell counties in Virginia and Sullivan County, Tenn.

Both Tennessee and Virginia require people to have their pets vaccinated for rabies once they’ve reached a certain age. But Bouton said some might ignore this law because they think rabies is a disease that’s only present in areas near a forest or in rural communities.

The fact that the most recent rabid animal was found in the middle of a residential area just south of the city’s wastewater treatment facility underscored her message that these animals can be found anywhere at any time.

Getting a pet vaccinated against rabies, making sure that vaccination is up to date, and can be confirmed by the person who administered the shot, can also go a long way in making sure that animal can survive the aftermath of an encounter with a rabid animal.

At least that’s what happened with the dog that spotted the rabid raccoon Friday afternoon, Bouton said. Because the dog’s owner made sure it was vaccinated ahead of time, the animal will be free when it finishes a 45-day quarantine at its owner’s home.

“If it wasn’t current [on its vaccination] then there would have been a much different scenario,” the animal control officer said.

Animals that aren’t vaccinated and exposed to rabies often have to be tested for the disease, she continued, a process that involves euthanizing the animal and performing a microscopic examination of its brain.

gmclean@bristolnews.com
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