THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 2, 1996 TAG: 9602020398
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Kato, a big teddy bear of a dog, could have met his doom when he confronted a raccoon in his yard in the Princess Anne Plaza area of Virginia Beach on Saturday. The raccoon bit him on the paw. The raccoon had rabies, health officials announced Thursday.
Kato is alive because Ed and Joanne Battelle, who take care of him for their son, keep the dog's rabies vaccination up to date. Otherwise, he may have faced a fatal disease or a quick execution on the orders of Virginia Beach health officials, who are struggling to contain a rabies epidemic in the city's raccoon population.
The incident - one of two such attacks in Hampton Roads within a week - worries health officials because the Battelle home is near Plaza and Brockwood elementary schools. No children had contact with the rabid raccoon, who was killed and tested.
Kato's encounter was the city's first reported case of rabies in 1996, but the 40th since 1992.
Last year, eight elementary-age children were treated after handling rabid bats.
On Tuesday in neighboring Chesapeake, a dog on Head of River Road near the Virginia Beach line was bitten in a fight with a rabid raccoon.
Rabies is a fatal disease transmitted by a bite or scratch, or through the saliva of a sick animal or person making contact with an open wound or mucous membrane.
There is no cure for the disease, caused by a virus that invades the nervous system. But people who have been exposed can be saved, by quick vaccination during the disease's incubation period, which can last from a few days to as long as a year.
``You can't get rabies and go to the doctor. Once symptoms begin . . . you're dead,'' said Valerie Reich, environmental health supervisor with the Virginia Beach Health Department.
Talk of rabies shots conjures fearful images, but the shots are no longer given in the stomach, she said.
People who may have been exposed receive a shot at the wound site and in the hip, then five shots over several days in the upper arm.
``It's better to have that than to die,'' she said.
Dogs and cats who have been vaccinated are usually safe, although owners must keep the pets away from other people and animals for 90 days because there is a very slight chance that the animal will get sick anyway.
So Kato, a playful and sociable Akita, is living a confined life for awhile, and he's already unhappy about it, said Ed Battelle.
``It's actually a punishment for him,'' said Battelle. The Chesapeake dog also has been vaccinated and is under 90-day quarantine.
But it beats the alternative. Most exposed pets who have not been immunized are euthanized, Reich said. If the owner of a dog or cat can't bear the thought of killing his pet, the animal is put in isolation for six months to see whether it develops the disease.
That, said Reich, ``can be very cruel.''
An infected animal can pass on the disease only once it becomes sick, not during the disease's incubation period. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
BETH BERGMAN
The Virginian-Pilot
If not for his up-to-date rabies vaccinations, Kato - the Akita
snuggling up to owner Mike Battelle - might be dead now. This
weekend, a raccoon bit him in the Princess Anne Plaza neighborhood
of Virginia Beach, an area near two elementary schools.
PREVENTING RABIES
How can you protect your family from rabies?
Make sure your dogs and cats are up to date on their
vaccinations.
Keep your pets confined to your home or yard.
Do not approach wild animals. Animals that have rabies don't
always appear aggressive. Sometimes they are lethargic and may let
you get near them.
Stay away from stray animals. Report strays and unvaccinated
animals.
Don't try to trap and move wild animals on your property. It's
dangerous to you, and you risk spreading the disease by moving an
infected animal to a clean area. Call animal control officials.
Report all animal bites or contact between pets and wild animals
to your local animal control or health department. Warn children to
report any bites or scratches.
If you think you may have been exposed by a wild or stray animal,
ask your doctor whether you need treatment. Injections to prevent
rabies are no longer given in the stomach.
KEYWORDS: RABIES by CNB