A rabid cat found and euthanized in Baltimore City has health and animal control officials warning pet owners to have their cats vaccinated.
“People will always say, ‘It can’t happen to my cat,’ ” said Bob Anderson, director of the city’s Bureau of Animal Control.
The recent case, the first confirmed dog or cat rabies case in Baltimore City since 1986, was in a feral cat that likely came in contact with a rabid raccoon, Anderson said.
There has been a growing number of rabies cases in cats statewide in recent years, said Kim Mitchell, chief of the division of rabies and vector-borne diseases at the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
As of Aug. 4, there have been 13 confirmed rabies cases in cats in 2008 and 19 cases in 2007, according to the state health department.
“There has always been a problem of overpopulation of cats and people not spaying or neutering their pets,” Mitchell said.
The signs for a rabid animal can range from one that drools excessively and attacks everything that moves to one that just sits and stares into the distance, Anderson said.
Anytime an animal is acting strange could be a sign of rabies, he said.
People can be exposed to rabies through a bite or scratch or through contact of mucus membranes, such as inadvertently wiping slobber in their eyes, Anderson said.
Rabies in humans causes fever, headaches, confusion, a tightening of the throat muscles and seizures, and it is usually fatal, according to the state health department.
It can take a few weeks to six months for symptoms to appear, so aggressive treatment after being exposed is effective for preventing rabies, said Dr. Kenrad Nelson, a professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
People exposed to rabies may undergo a costly five-shot regimen, Mitchell said.
This spring, vaccine manufacturers warned health officials of a shortage of the vaccine, she said, so state officials advise local health departments to “be very judicious, so the vaccine is not used needlessly.”
The last case of human rabies in Maryland was in 1976, Mitchell said.
Rabies cases in Maryland in 2008, as of Aug. 4
- Bat 17
- Cat 13
- Fox 31
- Raccoon 174
- Skunk 23
- Total 270
Source: Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
