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RABIES, WILDLIFE - USA (02): (NEW JERSEY) FOX, HUMAN EXPOSURE, CORRECTION
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A ProMED-mail post
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ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Fri 8 Jan 2010
Source: Chatham Courier [summ., edited]
<http://www.recordernewspapers.com/articles/2010/01/08/chatham_courier/news/doc4b44ee63e59d9914837266.txt>
[ProMED thanks Mark A. Jensen" <maj@fortinbras.us> for pointing out
that 20100109.0104 erroneously identified the state of occurrence as
North Carolina. The bite occurred in New Jersey. The man was from
North Carolina. - Mod.DK]
Fox tested positive for rabies
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A fox that was killed by borough police after it bit a North Carolina
man visiting in Chatham has tested positive for rabies, according to
Chatham Borough detective Michael Bochniak.
On Thu 31 Dec 2009, the state Department of Health and Senior
Services confirmed the suspected diagnosis of rabies virus, Bochniak
said. "We are advising people that if they see any animals who are
falling down, turning in circles, biting itself, convulsing, or
exhibiting unprovoked aggressive behavior, they should avoid contact
and notify their local police department immediately," said Bochniak.
Two people in Chatham were bitten by the fox -- one on Thu 24 Dec
2009 and the other on Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec 2009. A 9-year-old
child living on Inwood Circle was bitten on 24 Dec 2009, and an adult
male visiting a Chatham household on Edgehill Avenue was bitten on
Christmas [day].
After responding to the 1st incident, police searched the area but
could not locate the fox. During the 2nd incident the fox was
immediately located and killed by police. According to mayor Nelson
Vaughan, who called the North Carolina man to see how he was faring,
the rabid fox charged the police officer as he was getting out of his
patrol car. "He told me the fox went straight towards the police
officer," said Vaughan. "The officer responded very quickly shooting
the fox dead."
None of the bites were life threatening [injuries], but had the
victims not received a series of rabies shots, it could have been,
said Vaughan. The animal's remains were sent to Trenton where it was
tested for rabies. Vaughan also called the mother of the 9-year-old
to see how he was doing. "When I got the report from the state, I
gave it to her," he said. "She told me the child's doctor did not
want to give the full round of shots. I told her to take the report
to the physician and tell him the fox was definitely rabid."
Since the incidents, St Hubert's Animal Welfare Center has been
working with the borough police. "We are telling people, if they see
an aggressive animal or one that seems to have neurological problems
to call us and we will go out and investigate," said Jacqueline
Fahey, animal welfare director. Nothing has been reported so far, she
said, and it is not likely that anything will. It seems this fox was
an isolated case. Fahey said it is highly unusual for a fox to get
rabies. "They are much too fast," she said. It is likely that a bat,
the most probable carrier of the rabies virus today, bit this
particular fox. In the past, raccoons have been the usual suspects,
but now it is rare that a raccoon will host the rabies virus, said Fahey.
Small animals, squirrels and rodents can contract the disease, but
[are] not serious carriers. "These animals don't live long enough to
spread the disease," she said. It is always the better part of valor
to be safe rather than sorry, Vaughan said. According to the state
department of health, rabies is caused by a virus, which can infect
all warm-blooded mammals, including man. Rabies virus is found in the
saliva of a rabid animal and is transmitted by a bite, or possibly by
contamination of an open cut. Bats, raccoons, skunks, groundhogs,
foxes, cats, and dogs represent about 95 percent of animals diagnosed
with rabies in the United States. Domestic farm animals and other
wild animals may also become infected. Rodents such as rats, mice,
chipmunks, and squirrels are rarely infected, but it has happened.
Rabid animals display either vicious aggressive behavior or a partial
or total paralyzed gait. The animal may seem drunk.
[Byline: Kate Brex]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[An image and information on the red fox can be accessed at
<http://www.nationaltrappers.com/redfox.html>.
It may be true, as stated above, that foxes by virtue of their
agility rarely contract rabies virus infection, however once infected
they could act as efficient vectors of the disease. Continued
surveillance of wildlife in the area should remain a priority.
Genotyping of virus isolated from the rabid animal would confirm
transmission from a bat rather than another terrestrial animal.
A map showing the location of Chatham New Jersey can be accessed at
<http://maps.google.com/maps?q=chatham%20nj&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl>.
The state can be located on the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map
of the United States at
<http://healthmap.org/r/012f>. - Mod.CP]
[see also:
2009
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Rabies, fox, human exposure - USA: (NC) 20090630.2360
Rabies, fox, raccoon, bat - USA: (PA, KY, MD), alert 20090524.1936
Rabies, fox, human - USA: (FL), alert 20090425.1558
2008
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Rabies, fox, human exposure - USA (02): (SC) 20081121.3681
Rabies, fox, human exposure - USA: (SC,AZ) 20081109.3522
Rabies, fox - USA: (NM), alert 20080323.1097]]
...................................sb/cp/mj/dk
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