THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 8, 1995 TAG: 9509080492
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MELFA LENGTH: Long : 176 lines
Richard Webb crawled under a house in Melfa, expecting a rabid raccoon to attack him from the darkness.
Webb, one of two animal control officers in Accomack County, had shot the animal three times with a .22-caliber pistol the first time it charged him.
But the rabid animal was still alive under Rita Hutton's house. Webb searched the crawl space with a flashlight but couldn't find the wounded raccoon.
``That's the third rabid raccoon that was found inside our neighborhood in a week,'' said Hutton. She worries that the children and pets in her rural town are in danger - including her 4-year-old grandson, who spends his days outside catching butterflies.
``I was petrified,'' Hutton said.
Melfa is the latest hot spot in a disease that is moving south 25 miles per year on the Delmarva Peninsula. In 1994, rural Accomack and suburban Fairfax County in Northern Virginia shared the dubious honor of having caught and ``euthanized'' 34 rabid animals, the most in Virginia.
Only neighboring Northampton County, among localities in Southeastern Virginia, has been spared the problem. But public health officials expect rabies will advance across the county line within weeks.
Eventually, the raccoon under Hutton's house was trapped and killed, but only after a long, anxious day. Hutton and some of her neighbors fear that county mechanisms for rabies control are slow, unclear and inadequate to handle a growing problem.
``They need to make a bigger effort than what they're doing now,'' said Carlton Byrd of Melfa.
Health officials, who know how hard their agencies are struggling to contain rabies, vehemently disagree.
``From our point of view, we're working hard in the right direction,'' said Dr. Daniel J. Dickinson, head of the state health department on the Eastern Shore.
``This area is more proactive in rabies prevention than anywhere in the state.''
Rabies is a viral disease of the central nervous system that can infect humans and other mammals. It is transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal. The illness is characterized by choking, convulsions and an inability to swallow. Untreated, it is always fatal. Eleven people on the Eastern Shore have been treated for rabies exposure this year.
The animal in Virginia most likely to be infected with rabies is the raccoon. And the Eastern Shore has a huge and growing raccoon population.
In past generations, seasonal workers like watermen and farmhands trapped raccoons in the winter and sold the pelts. Now, say locals, wearing fur is not politically correct, and the pelts have lost so much value they aren't worth trapping.
With no natural or human predators, the raccoon population has exploded. Scientists have determined that fecal coliform pollution at the head of some Eastern Shore creeks - coliform levels so high that the shellfish beds are condemned - is caused by raccoon excrement.
``Every square inch of the Eastern Shore is excellent raccoon habitat,'' said Keith Privett, environmental health supervisor for Accomack and Northampton counties.
Rabies first hit Accomack County Jan. 30, 1994, when a raccoon attacked two dogs in Atlantic and was killed by the dogs. By the end of 1994, 34 rabid animals had been caught and euthanized, including four skunks, two foxes and an otter.
Hampton Roads wildlife is infected with rabies, too. Last year, 14 rabid raccoons were caught in Virginia Beach. This year, through Sept. 7, eight rabid animals were caught and at least 77 persons received rabies shots in Virginia Beach.
A city Health Department spokesman explained that many people received shots after coming into contact with suspected animals that were not captured.
Norfolk and Portsmouth had no reported cases in 1994 and through July 29 of this year. Chesapeake reported one rabid cat and three rabid raccoons in 1994, but no cases by July 29 of this year. Suffolk reported one rabid cat in 1994 and one infected raccoon so far this year.
Since rabies invaded Accomack, four people have been attacked by animals that are normally shy. Two were bitten by raccoons, and two had gray foxes tear at their pants legs. But Privett worries as much about pets who may contract the disease from exposure to wildlife.
``What's scary is that some animals will shed the virus days before they exhibit symptoms,'' he said. An infected pet could bite its owner, and the owner might not think anything of it. ``That's the nightmare situation.''
Unless the bite victim is treated with five post-exposure rabies shots, the disease is fatal.
The Eastern Shore Health District has organized low-cost rabies vaccination clinics for pets. By June, these clinics had inoculated 246 dogs and 81 cats in Accomack and Northampton counties. But officials believe that a small fraction of the Eastern Shore's pets have been vaccinated.
According to a report by the bi-county rabies task force, only an estimated 10 percent of the domestic animals in Northampton County are licensed or vaccinated. No numbers were listed for Accomack. Estimates of the number of stray cats and dogs in the two counties is high.
Richard Webb and Brad Lewis, Accomack's animal control officers, and Bill Hisle, the state game warden in Accomack, work together to catch sick animals, even though none of them is equipped by his agency to do the job.
Webb, who gets as many as 20 calls a week to catch potentially rabid animals, said it's his job to control domestic species like cats and dogs.
``The game department is supposed to handle wild animals,'' Webb said. He has three cat traps made of light-gauge wire. The cages are big enough to hold a raccoon, but not strong enough.
``A raccoon can get in that and tear it all to pieces,'' said Webb.
Meanwhile, residents looking for the game warden's phone number aren't going to find it.
``It's not listed,'' said Webb. ``Mine must be on a billboard on the highway.''
Lt. Diane Gawrys, supervisor of the Eastern Shore's game wardens, said state law delegates the responsibility for rabies control to the Health Department and county. Game wardens are not assigned heavy-gauge raccoon traps, she said. Hisle borrows the one he uses.
And, she said, they don't have a safe way to transport rabid animals because they only have passenger vehicles.
No one in the Health Department is assigned to trap rabid animals, although staffers do frequently help the animal control officers.
``These people need a pat on the back, if anything,'' said Dickinson. ``They have responded in every case when there is a wild animal that is a potential source of exposure.''
At a Rabies Task Force meeting in May, lack of manpower, training and safety equipment were identified as problems. Northampton County, which has not had a reported case of rabies exposure, may build holding pens and buy an incinerator for carcass disposal.
Accomack Administrator Arthur Fisher said his county board doesn't see any problem with the way rabies cases are being handled.
``I think our animal control officers are well trained,'' he said. ``We're light years ahead of Northampton.''
But Rita Hutton and her neighbors are angry at what they consider cavalier treatment of their safety by the county.
``We need traps, and we need a couple out now,''said Hutton.
The Eastern Shore Health Department is completing a video to train police who deal with rabid animals.
And the department has developed a protocol for police dispatchers and 911 staffers that will help them sort out and respond to a potential rabies exposure.
The good news is that, to date, the Eastern Shore's efforts to prevent human deaths from rabies have been successful.
``So far we haven't had any pets with rabies or any humans with rabies,'' said Privett. ``And that's our goal.'' ILLUSTRATION: Symptoms of rabies in animals:
Animal appears sick, dazed and confused.
Animal may be aggressive, may attack other animals, people, even
inanimate objects.
Animal may appear overly friendly, normally wary animals lose
their fear of man, dogs, etc.
Animal may have a wobbly gait, staggering, falling over when
trying to walk.
Animal may be indifferent to humans, unconcerned and unafraid.
Animal may be unresponsive to stimuli, may not respond to
shouting, waving arms, even gunshots.
Animal may be paralyzed, immobile for periods of time, unable to
move parts of body, dragging hind legs.
SPREAD OF RABIES
Areas affected by rabies carried by raccoons from 1977 to 1993
SOURCE: Virginia Department of Health
KEN WRIGHT/Staff
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
IN HAMPTON ROADS
Hampton Roads wildlife is infected with rabies, too. Last year,
14 rabid raccoons were caught in Virginia Beach. This year, through
July, seven rabid animals were caught and 77 persons received rabies
shots in Virginia Beach.
A Virginia Beach Health Department spokesman explained that many
people received shots after coming into contact with suspected
animals that were not captured.
Norfolk and Portsmouth had no reported cases in 1994 and through
July 29 of this year. Chesapeake reported one rabid cat and three
rabid raccoons in 1994, but no cases by July 29 of this year.
Suffolk reported one rabid cat in 1994 and one infected raccoon so
far this year.
KEYWORDS: RABIES by CNB