Today, we think of diseases such as rabies as something from the distant past or from fiction, as in the story “Old Yeller.” In public health, we continue to track rabies because the disease occurs in our county at low levels and only in certain animal populations, such as bats – but that still means a risk to our community from a fatal infectious disease.It’s important to know that eastern Colorado has experienced a resurgence of rabies in skunks, and the resurgence raises the chance that either a person or his or her pet can become exposed to rabies from a skunk bite. Fourteen cases of the kind of rabies that skunks carry have been found in eastern Colorado wildlife in the last year – 13 in skunks and one in a coyote. That level of rabies activity has not been reported in at least 20 years. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is very concerned that skunk rabies may be moving toward the Front Range and toward our county.For perspective, the last time a skunk was tested to have rabies in El Paso County was in 1970, but wildlife have been found to be infected with skunk rabies in Arapahoe, Kit Carson and Kiowa counties.Rabies infection is spread primarily through the bite of rabid animals or when saliva from an infected animal gets into open wounds, cuts or enters into the eyes, nose or mouth. Wildlife most prone to rabies infection includes bats, skunks, foxes and raccoons.People who are exposed to rabies can receive life-saving medication (shots), but if untreated, rabies is fatal. Period.In response to this emerging threat, let me tell you first what we’re doing here at the health department. With the cooperation of the El Paso County Department of Transportation, we are helping the state health department test skunks found dead along roadways on the eastern portion of our county to identify if any are infected with rabies. The areas currently of most interest to public health scientists are those east of Powers Boulevard, so Falcon is an area of concern to us.We are diligently working with agencies involved with animal control to ensure that people who are bit by an animal are properly assessed in terms of rabies exposure. And we are alerting the public to keep their pets up to date on the rabies vaccine.Our goal is to determine whether skunk rabies has entered El Paso County and to keep the public informed so they can take steps to protect themselves, their pets and livestock. Let me tell you what you need to do to stay safe:
- Make sure that your dogs and cats are vaccinated for rabies, especially if they are likely to be outdoors. Rabies in cats and dogs has been extremely low for several decades because of widespread vaccination of domestic pets. But if skunk rabies continues to spread, our pets may now be at increased risk and could pose a danger to people.
- Don’t feed wild animals or allow your pets around them. Be sure to educate children to stay away from wild animals.
- Contact your veterinarian if your dog or cat is bitten or scratched by a wild animal, such as a skunk, bat, fox or raccoon.
- If you suspect you’ve been exposed to rabies, contact your physician without delay.
- Discuss rabies vaccination of your livestock with your veterinarian. Vaccination may be considered for horses and other equines, breeding livestock, dairy cattle or other high value livestock.
- If you find a dead skunk, stay away from it if you can. If it’s on your property and you need to remove it, do not touch the animal directly. Instead, lift the carcass with a shovel or other tool and double bag it for the trash.
