What is Rabies?
Rabies is a disease of the brain and spinal cord and is caused by a virus. Rabies is a fatal disease. Rabies in humans is very rare in the United States, but in certain animals, especially wildlife, it is common in many parts of the country.
Who Gets Rabies?
Rabies can infect all warm-blooded animals, including humans. Raccoons, foxes, skunks, bats, woodchucks, cats, dogs, and cattle are most likely to get rabies.
How is rabies spread?
The rabies virus is concentrated in the saliva of infected animals and is spread when they bite or scratch. The virus may also be spread when saliva from an infected animal touches broken skin, open wounds or the lining of the mouth, nose, or eyes.
What can I do to protect my pets?
All cats, dogs, and ferrets should be vaccinated against rabies. Make sure your pet’s rabies vaccination is up-to-date. You should also maintain control of your pet by keeping cats and ferrets indoor and keeping dogs under direct supervision.
You should call animal control to remove all stray animals from your neighborhood since these animals may be unvaccinated or ill.
How can you tell if an animal is rabid?
Rabid animals often behave strangely after the virus attacks their brains. Rabid animals may attack people or other animals for no reason, or they may lose their fear of people and seem to be unnaturally friendly. Not all rabid animals act in these ways, so you should avoid all wild animals, especially bats, skunks, foxes, and raccoons. Also, you should not feed or touch stray cats and dogs.
What happens if an unknown dog or cat bites me?
You should seek medical evaluation for any animal bite. However, rabies is uncommon in dogs, cats and ferrets in the United States. If the cat, dog, or ferret appeared healthy at the time you were bitten, it should be confined by its owner for 10 days and observed. No anti-rabies treatment is needed.
No person in the United States has ever had rabies from a dog, cat or ferret held in quarantine for 10 days. If a dog, cat, or ferret appeared ill at the time it bites you, or becomes ill during the 10 day quarantine, it should be evaluated by a veterinarian for signs of rabies and you should seek medical advice about the need for anti-rabies treatment.
What are the symptoms of rabies?
Early symptoms include irritability, headache, fever, and sometimes itching or pain at the site of exposure. Within days, the disease progresses rapidly to paralysis, spasms of the throat muscles, convulsions, delirium and death.
How soon after exposure do symptoms appear?
The incubation period (the time between exposure to the virus and appearance of symptoms) varies, but is normally two to eight weeks.
What if my pet is bitten by a wild animal?
Any animal bitten or scratched by either a wild carnivorous mammal, or a bat that is not available for testing should be regarded as having been exposed to rabies. Unvaccinated dogs, cats and ferrets exposed to a rabid animal should b euthanized immediately. If the owner is unwilling to have this done, the animal should be placed in strict isolation for 6 months and vaccinated 1 month before being released. Animals with expired vaccinations need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Dogs and cats that are currently vaccinated are kept under observation for 45 days.
What should I do if I come in contact with a bat?
If you are bitten by a bat, or if infectious material (such as saliva) from a bat gets into your eyes, nose, mouth, or a wound, wash the affected area thoroughly and get medical attention immediately. Whenever possible, the bat should be captured and sent to a laboratory for rabies testing.
People usually know when thy have been bitten by a bat. However, because bats have small teeth with may leave marks that are not easily seen, there are situations in which you should seek medical advice and have the bat tested, even if you do not see a bite would, such as:
- You awaken and find a bat in your room;
- You see a bat in the room of an unattended child, or near a mentally impaired or intoxicated person.
What should I do if there is a bat in my home?
If you see a bat in your home and you are sure no human or pet exposure has occurred, confine the bat to a room by closing all doors and windows leading out of the room except those to the outside. The bat will probably leave soon. If not, it can be caught. Call Stamford Police, Animal Control Division for advice.
If there is any question of exposure, leave the bat alone and close all doors and window so that the bat can be captured. Call animal control for assistance. The only way to know if the bat has rabies is to have the bat tested in a laboratory. However, any bat
that is active by day, is found in a place where bats are not usually seen, or unable to fly, is far more likely than others to be rabid.
What should you do if you think you’ve been exposed to rabies?
If you have been bitten or scratched by a stray animal, or by a pet or farm animal that has been behaving oddly, follow these steps:
- Wash the wound with soap and water immediately for at least 10 minutes.
- Call your health care provider, or go to the hospital emergency room immediately to determine if you need to be treated for rabies.
- Contact the Animal Control Division of the Police Department to help find and catch the animal that scratched or bit you. Do not try to try to capture it yourself. Make sure to check with your pet’s rabies vaccination history and report any unusual behavior to your veterinarian and animal control officer.
- Contact your health department for instruction on how to have the animal tested by the state laboratory.
What can I do to protect myself and my family?
- DO vaccinate your dog, cat, or ferret and make sure vaccination is up-to-date.
- DO keep your pets confined, preferably on a leash or within a fenced area. Feed your pets indoors. Don’t let your animals roam at will.
- DO enjoy wildlife, but from a distance. Make sure you educate your family about staying away from wildlife animals and from dogs and cats unfamiliar to them.
- DON’T feed wild, or stray animals.
- DON’T leave picnic, or pet food outside your home, it may attract wildlife animals.
- DON’T leave garbage cans out overnight or uncovered.
If you have any questions, or need further information please contact the Stamford Department of Health and Social Services: (203)977-4378.
To report an animal, please call the Stamford Police Department Animal Control Division: (203)977-4437.
Stamford Department of Health and Social Services
888 Washington Boulevard
Stamford , CT 06901
Phone: 203 977-4378