Pet dog exposed to rabid raccoon near Louisville
A Jefferson County family’s dog is being quarantined after it fought and killed a rabid raccoon May 3 at a Cason Creek sub-division home outside of Louisville.
Jefferson County Environmental Health Specialist Robert Strickland collected the raccoon carcass at the home near Highway 296 and sent it to Georgia Public Health Laboratory in Waycross where tests confirmed the wild animal was positive for the rabies virus.
“The coon was crouched down under the carport and the owner’s dog, a German Shepherd, didn’t want it there,” Strickland said. “During the scuffle, the coon bit the dog and the dog killed the coon.”
According to Department of Public Health (DPH) protocol, after any domestic animal that has had its rabies vaccinations comes into contact with a rabid animal, it is placed in a 10-day quarantine.
“If the animal is up and running around after 10 days we may let them let it out, but we observe it again after 45 days to ensure that no rabies was transmitted,” Strickland said. “Usually, if an animal carrying an active rabies virus, if it bites another animal, that animal will be dead within 10 days. That’s how fast the rabies strain will move through another animal.”
The local health department is currently notifying residents in the area and advising them to avoid contact with wild animals.
Strickland said that the last case of rabies he remembers in Jefferson County was about two years ago and involved a rabid bobcat that was under a resident’s porch and was killed by that property owner’s dogs. Around that same time a raccoon that wandered into a Glascock County resident’s yard tested positive for the virus.
The rabies virus is deadly to humans and Strickland that is why his office takes these cases seriously and has strict protocols regarding exposures. The virus can be transmitted anytime the skin is broken, he said, through bites, scratches or other injuries.
“We don’t go picking up every strange acting raccoon people see beside the road, but when there is domesticated animal involved, we come out and test,” Strickland said. “We are primarily concerned with human involvement.”
DPH recommends that residents make sure their pets are vaccinated against rabies and receive regular boosters, pets are not allowed to roam free in areas they are likely to come into contact with wild animals, avoid leaving food outside that could draw stray and wild animals to areas human frequent, and children be taught not to approach wild or stray animals they do not know.
All residents of Jefferson County have been asked to report any contact of humans and domestic animals with wild animals to Jefferson County Health Department Environmental Health Section office at 478-625-3716.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Jefferson County residents warned raccoon tests positive for rabies
