Rabid Cat Identified in Harford: Health Department

Have you had contact with any stray cats in the Scarboro area lately?

If so, the Harford County Health Department’s Communicable Disease Division wants to hear from you.

A feline from a feral cat colony on Scarboro Road tested positive for rabies, the Harford County Health Department reported in a statement Thursday.

The animal was living in a cat colony near the Harford County Waste Disposal Center, where it was being fed with other stray and feral felines, the statement said.

After a local resident noticed the cat behaving unusually, she took the cat to a veterinarian, who recognized the symptoms as those of a cat with rabies and euthanized the animal, officials said.

• Feral Cat Issue Divides Counties, Residents in Maryland

“Rabies is a deadly viral disease that must be taken seriously and risk of a rabies exposure is definitely a concern in these situations,” according to the Harford County Health Department.

“Other cats in this area could possibly be incubating the rabies virus if they had contact with this cat,” the statement said. “The highest risk of exposure is from a bite or scratch of an infected rabid animal but there is a slight risk of exposure through touching or handling as well.”

Those who have touched or been scratched/licked by a stray cat in the Scarboro vicinity in the last six months should get in touch with the health department for a risk assessment, the statement said.

Contact the Harford County Health Department’s Communicable Disease Division at 410-612-1774.