A notice on the New Gloucester town website last week alerted the community that the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed a case of animal rabies in a skunk here. Today, the Town of Gray similarly reported on a rabid raccoon.
Where exactly was that skunk found in New Gloucester? Field Epidemiologist Emer Smith of Maine CDC told NGX that specific location information isn’t shared. Reports are tied to a particular individual and address, raising privacy issues. In addition, rabid animals “can roam quite a bit,” Smith said, “many miles out of their normal range.”
Smith commented that this is “a feisty rabies season,” although not to the degree seen in Brunswick a couple years back. She offered reminders of best defenses: be sure your indoor and outdoor animals alike are up-to-date with vaccines, avoid leaving out trash or food that might be tempting to stray animals, don’t approach unknown animals. Instead, call animal control or Maine game wardens.
Cases are tracked by the state’s Health and Environmental Testing Lab (HETL) and data shared online, Smith said. According to the most recent HETL update on April 6, raccoons have been the prime culprit so far this year, accounting for six cases in Cumberland County, two in Androscoggin County and 12 of the 15 total rabies cases statewide. You can follow along as the season progresses with a spreadsheet downloadable at this link.
What animals wind up getting tested for rabies in Maine? Here’s the rundown from Maine’s 2020 Surveillance Report: alpacas, bats, beavers, bobcats, cats, cows, coyotes, dogs, ferrets, foxes, goats, horses, muskrats, opossums, pigs, porcupines, raccoons, sheep, skunks, squirrels, weasels and woodchucks.
Along with links to stats and reports, the Maine CDC webpage has plenty of practical information: how rabies is transmitted, what to do and who to call if you or pets are exposed. Learn more at this link.
The odds of encountering rabies may be low, but even so, being informed and taking care make sense. After all, what’s started off as a feisty rabies season might turn into a feisty rabies year.
— Joanne Cole
