Skunk Tests Positive for Rabies in Woodbury

Post from Woodbury-Bethlehem Animal Control:

OK folks — Rabies-positive skunk [in the] area of Flanders Road in Woodbury. No human contact and [make sure] dogs are up to date with their Rabies vaccine!

Rabies Facts From the American Humane Association

• Rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system.
• Rabies can infect any warm-blooded animal.
• There is no cure for rabies, and it is almost always fatal. Once clinical signs occur, an infected animal usually dies within five days.
• The only way to test for rabies is by examination of the brain tissue of a dead animal. There is no way to test for rabies infection in a live animal.
• Rabies virus is spread by contact with the saliva of an infected animal. Transmission is usually through a bite wound, but the disease has been known to spread through a scratch or an existing open wound.
• The incubation period -- the period of time between exposure to a disease and the onset of clinical signs -- for rabies can vary greatly. The typical incubation period is three to eight weeks, but it can be as little as nine days or as long as several years in some rare cases. The incubation period depends on several factors, including the location of the entry wound, the severity of the wound and the animal’s immune system. In general, the farther the wound is from the brain, the longer the incubation period will be.
• An infected animal can only transmit rabies after the onset of clinical signs.
• Rabies is endemic throughout the continental United States. Hawaii is the only rabies-free state. Rabies is most prevalent along the East Coast from Florida to Maine and in southern Arizona along the Mexican border.
• The most common rabies carriers in the U.S. are raccoons, bats, skunks and foxes.
• Human rabies cases in the U.S. currently average two per year. Cases of rabies in domestic pets average 400 to 500 per year.

Click here for more facts about Rabies.

To sign up for Woodbury-Middlebury Patch news alerts, subscribe below.