Orange County deals with busy rabies season

Orange County is seeing its biggest year for rabies since 2008.

So far in 2014, there have been 13 positive test results showing rabies. In 2012 and 2013, there were 13 reported cases of rabies each year, according to reports from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The 2014 cases have included one bat, one skunk, one fox and 10 raccoons.

Carl Williams , the North Carolina state public health veterinarian, said an increased number of reported rabies cases may not reflect an increase in the spread of the virus.

“It’s difficult to say why the numbers fluctuate from year to year,” he said.

Rabies affects the central nervous system, causing problems in the brain. If it goes untreated, rabies can result in death. The virus can be passed between mammals through coming into contact with the saliva or the brain or nervous tissue of an infected animal.

Williams said scientists have a hard time figuring out the prevalence of rabies, which originates in wild animals. It is nearly impossible to count the number of animals in the wild and determine how many have the virus.

“You can look and say objectively that 13 (cases) is larger than 10, but if you don’t know the population from which you’re drawing, then you don’t want to make many inferences about it,” he said.

Williams said the strand of rabies found on the East Coast originates from raccoons.

“A raccoon may be infected for several weeks, whereas a cat, once it becomes infectious, is going to die within four or five days,” he said. “There is less opportunity for them to spread the virus.”

Jason Allen, the district biologist that oversees Orange County, said one way to cut down on the spread of the disease is to avoid leaving food outside for pets or raccoons.

“A lot of the cases that we see are in urban areas where this type of thing is going on,” he said.

If animals share the same food, rabies can be spread by one infected animal’s saliva.

“If one raccoon has rabies, there’s a good chance that every raccoon that eats out of that bowl of dog food will get rabies,” Allen said.

Jim Orr

, Chapel Hill’s parks and recreation director, said residents should be on the lookout for potential rabies cases. “It’s a combination of everybody that uses our facilities just to be more aware of the areas around them and making sure that if someone does see a stray animal, report it,” Orr said.

While the number of rabies cases in Orange County is rising, Orr said the virus has not been a problem in Chapel Hill in the four years he has been with parks and recreation.

“I know that the number of cases that have been brought to my attention in Chapel Hill are very, very low,” he said.

Williams said the disease can be found year-round, but the summer does see more.

“The difference is, we have more animals submitted for testing and, consequently, more positive animals in the summer just because it’s summer, and people are outside,” he said.

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