A skunk collected Friday, Feb. 23, 2018 from Albert Meredith Lane off Spruce Run Road in the Newport area of Giles County has tested positive for rabies, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
This is the first confirmed case of animal rabies in Giles County and all of the New River Health District this year. Over the last six years, Montgomery County has averaged 12 rabid animals each year.
Rabies exposure to this skunk were reported for one human and one domestic animal, and the health department asks any residents who may have come in contact with a skunk or any other suspicious animal to call your local animal control office and your local health department.
Rabies is a deadly disease caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system. It is almost always fatal, unless preventive treatment is administered before symptoms develop, so determining whether exposure has happened is critical.
“’Contact’ is fairly broad as we are announcing a known-positive animal incident of a high risk species (skunk),” Senior Environmental Health Manager of the New River Valley Health District, Gary Coggins wrote in an email. “And so, we are encouraging anyone concerned that they have had ‘contact’ with a potentially rabid animal to contact us to discuss.”
One of the health department’s many roles is to evaluate what ‘contact’ is and determine whether or not an event constitutes a valid exposure to the virus Coggins wrote.
A ‘valid exposure’ for a person typically involves a bite or some other contact by which saliva or brain tissue from a potentially or known rabid animal gets into a wound or into the eyes or mouth.
With bats, however, because they have small and very sharp teeth and their bites may not wake a sleeping or unconscious person.
Bat bites can potentially go unnoticed, so a person is typically considered exposed simply by being asleep or otherwise unconscious in the same room as a bat.
“We also evaluate potential exposures of domestic animals and livestock to potentially rabid wild animals, and the criteria for determining a valid exposure are here again slightly different,” he wrote.
Coggins encourages anyone with concerns about ‘contact’ with a suspicious animal to contact the New River Health District for an opportunity to investigate and determine the risk of exposure.
“It’s important to seek medical attention promptly after being exposed,” said Noelle Bissell, M.D., director of the New River Health District.
Late February and early March is a normal time for a case of rabies to appear in the New River Valley and cases as early as January have occurred.
“Rabies is endemic in the NRV and does not go away. The timing is frequently related to human or domestic animal interaction with the wildlife population, so the timing is often a product of weather or how severe or mild the winter is. When the weather is nice, there is more opportunity for humans or domestic animals to encounter the wildlife population,” Coggins wrote.
Any persons who have had a valid exposure to the rabies virus should get Post-Exposure Prophylaxis vaccinations to prevent the nearly-always fatal disease. Human rabies can be prevented with prompt vaccination after being exposed according to Coggins.
Domestic animals exposed to the rabies virus are evaluated and placed into a period of confinement or isolation depending on their vaccination status and history. Unvaccinated animals must be placed into strict isolation for six months or be humanely euthanized.
The New River Health District encourages everyone to have their pets vaccinated to protect not only their pets, but themselves, their families and the community from rabies.
Pet owners are reminded that Virginia Law requires domestic animals be vaccinated against rabies.
In addition to keeping your pets vaccinated, the New River Health District strongly advises that people take these steps to protect family members and pets from rabies:
• Avoid contact with wild animals or stray cats and dogs;
• Do not feed wild animals or stray cats and dogs;
• Report stray animals to your local animal control agency;
• Eliminate outdoor food sources around the home; and
• Keep pets confined to your property or walk them on a leash.
For more information, visit www.vdh.virginia.gov/epidemiology/DEE/Rabies or call the Montgomery County Health Department at (540) 585-3300 and Radford City Health Department at (540) 267-8255.
— Liz Kirchner
