Dear PFD:

Unfortunately, there is no way to eradicate rabies once it's already here. Rabies has been around since the 1800s. It was first seen in Mass. in bats in 1961, and in raccoons in 1992. And you are right, there is no human or pet vaccine once the person/animal shows signs of such. That is why prevention is the best medicine. Down by the cape, it was not so much trapping and removing rabies, it was a pilot program to try to put out rabies vaccine nuggets to try to have a high influx of vaccinated animals near the bridge(s) not cross over onto the cape (from the study that I recall from the 90's). This was mainly targeted at the raccoon population as the changing fluxes with rabies is usually most popular with the raccoon species. That was a great idea, but rabies has been able to get across (reference the Foxboro puppy that was in fact positive for rabies and went to Hyannis and then to the islands). As far as prevention, I always recommend domestic pets and livestock that are applicable as well as ferrets to be vaccinated BEFORE their vaccine runs out. Not only is there a non lapse in vaccination time, but you can in some cases with the dog vaccine, extend your rabies coverage to three years.

As far as human exposure, very few people have to be worried unless they have direct contact through cross contamination. In other words, if you get bitten by a rabid animal, sprayed by a rabid skunk where you have contamination directly to the face (mucous membranes) or open wounds, clean a cut from an animal that was infected by rabid saliva. A non invasive way to catch rabies has also been established in caves of heavily populated bat dens where the air molecules may actually hold in the salivary moisture of the bats where you would ingest it from breathing. It's not easy to catch in the general sense of everyday wildlife encounters. To demystify the deep fears of the rabies vaccine in humans - It has come a long way from the days of old. Depending on the situation, a post exposure vaccine is usually given directly into the wound site and that's adequate. For pre exposure, such as Animal Control Officers/veterinarians/animal health professionals, it is only given in a series of three shots over a period of time (thankfully not in the stomach).

Along with prevention is to deter wildlife from "denning" upon residential property. Making a spot inhabitable is a great idea. Unfortunately, animals love mulch piles as they radiate heat, love to burrow under sheds, and outbuildings, porches, etc. To protect your porches from animals living underneath you really have to dig down underground at least a foot and lay some heavy duty wire/strong lattice to deter them from trying to dig under and moving right in.

Now due to so many different factors of civilization, generally a nocturnal animal may not be rabid if out in the daytime. Society has changed so much of their habits as far as their roaming patterns. If there are spots in town where wildlife know they can get a free meal between 10 - 2 PM they will gladly come out and be fed which is why I am strongly against feeding wildlife no matter what the circumstances are. Many people see their beauty and splendor and want to view them during the daytime and in by doing that, they do somewhat change them from wild to wild-feral and they loose a bit of fear from people. In doing that, they become a public threat as they will start to approach random people (i.e., turkeys and raccoons are notorious for this). Many times they change their patterns knowing that it's safer to raid a person's trash during the daytime than the night and again, they will come forth. Another reason to be out are swimming pools. Skunks LOVE swimming pools. They go right up for a cool drink and before you know it, they are stuck in there swimming circles. Very important to pest proof pool areas because of this. Also do to huge influxes in weather as well as breeding and birthing seasons, different species will come out during the daytime to satisfy their core needs when necessary (food/water/mating).

The state trapping laws have changed as far as being able to "rid" of nuisance animals. Not recently, but, now over time, the issues of those changes have started to show from time to time. We have more issues more than ever now, with less forest land due to houses, and more often you will find these wild animals feeling pressured to live in suburbia do to loss of habitat. To inform how the state and the local agencies are authorized to handle such situations: The local agencies, such as ours, may only interfere with wildlife if they are sick or suffering or causing an act of destruction to person/animal. In other words, if an animal shows signs of sickness we can euthanize the animal. Not all animals euthanized are tested. There are protocols the state has set forth for testing. General guidelines are that someone (be it pet or human) has to have some exposure to justify testing the animal at the state laboratories. The state agencies, such as Fish and Wildlife handles nuisance wildlife. They have licensed PAC (problem animal control) contractors who are licensed to trap and euthanize animals that have moved into people's residence areas. This is a fee based expense to the home owner as it is viewed as avoidable and also falls under pest extermination. The only time the town will set a trap for wildlife is to ascertain a group of animals. In our situation currently, there are numerous (humane) traps set throughout different locations in town. I am going around frequently to check the traps. If an animal in the trap appears to be of ill health they are euthanized. If the determination that they are functioning fine under the stresses of nature, then they are released where they were caught. My goal here is to catch only the sick ones.

Now the cycle of rabies is variant. Depending on the species of animals, and size and location of infection point the incubation point varies greatly. A smaller animal may have a shorter incubation time as to that of a larger animal. The disease process is a spinal column process. In other words it circulates through the body, then up the cord, into the brain. ONLY when it is in the advanced stages of the disease are those animals transmittable for rabies. When the disease travels into the cranium it effects the salivary glands. Prior to that, the animals will test negative to rabies. A rabid animal usually only has ten to twelve days to inflict harm upon others. As when the disease finally does reach the brain, their functions of living rapidly cease. The only other variance again is also through scratches as inside the nail there is an obviously a blood supply. If that nail is damaged and exposes a blood supply to another blood supply through a scratch, that too can be considered an exposure.

Along with that, rabid animals may still groom themselves and have molecules of the rabies from their saliva imbedded into their nails during that transmission time. Now some animals which hibernate or den for long periods can actually go down in late fall w/ the virus in them and then come out of hibernation with the virus coming on strong.

Knowing that there are so many variant stages of the disease process itself there is no way to rid the wildlife populus of the disease overall. The best medicine in this case is prevention. Vaccinate all animals and make your home uninhabitable for those furry creatures. I'll provide links as well so that if there are any unanswered questions, they may be looked through the following pages. As I stated before. Any animal that is acting strangely, beyond just passing through a yard to get to the other side, may be reported to the Norfolk Police Department. A rabid animal usually will not travel far at all due to it's impairment from the disease. In the end stage of rabies, they usually don't travel far due to disorientation, but when they are carriers only, they have the same capacity to travel as if they were right and healthy animals. There are two different characteristics of rabies that are classified in the fields.

Dumb rabies and Furious rabies. They are somewhat self explanatory. Dumb are those that are uncoordinated, disoriented and have a drunken appearance. Furious are those that are easily agitated and aggressive, i.e., chase people, go after car tires, etc.

The mass dph has a WONDERFUL site that answers literally thousands of questions about rabies at

Rabies

along with that there are other really useful sites:

MassWildlife Problem Animal Control

Keeping Wildlife in Massachusetts

Moving Wild Animals is Against the Law!

MASSWILDLIFE Rabies Facts

Rabies Control Plan - Chapter 2

I hope this helps you, and hope it puts you and others at ease with useful information to learn how to handle any situation if it arises. Of course if anyone wishes to talk to me about the situation, feel free to contact me at the NPD at 508-528-3232 and I'll be happy to provide any answers that I can.

Sincerely,
Hilary Nolan Penlington
Norfolk Animal Control