
DATE: Wednesday, September 24, 1997         TAG: 9709240449

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY LANE DeGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  113 lines

BE CAREFUL - RABIES HAS REACHED THE OUTER BANKS

A rabid raccoon trapped in Kitty Hawk on Friday marked the second confirmed case of rabies in Dare County in a week.

The outbreak that began inland almost seven years ago now has spread even to the isolated Outer Banks - as state officials say they knew it eventually would.

``That's indicative that the epidemic may have rolled into your area,'' North Carolina Public Health Veterinarian Lee Hunter said from his Raleigh office Tuesday.

``It means that people need to understand Dare County may be in the beginning of an epidemic with a disease that is fatal - and that has no cure.

``You're one of the last two counties in northeastern North Carolina to come down with it.''

Rabies cases have been reported throughout North Carolina this year. And the number has been increasing rapidly since 1990. As of Tuesday, there were 678 confirmed cases of rabies throughout the state - compared with 552 during the same period last year and 369 during that time in 1995.

``Our lab is set up to test about 1,500 animals a year for rabies. So far this year, we've tested 4,300 - and we've had to turn away some,'' said Hunter, adding that the tests cost taxpayers about $150 per animal. ``We began advertising to hire another state vet this year to keep up with all the extra work.''

Earlier this month, two kindergartners playing in their Roanoke Island neighborhood found a dead bat and brought it home. The bat tested positive for rabies Sept. 15. Both boys are undergoing rabies shots.

A few days later, a Nags Head woman and her daughter were awakened when two raccoons ran through their Soundside Road home. The raccoons had broken through the screened door, bit the teenage daughter on her hand and scratched the woman on her leg when she tried to shoo it out of the house. Because animal control officers could not capture the raccoons, both the woman and her daughter are undergoing rabies shots.

Rabies shots cost about $1,000 per person and have to be administered around the wound and in the thigh.

The rabid Kitty Hawk raccoon is not known to have bitten anybody, Dare County animal control officer Burnie Lethig said. ``But it had been acting weird, lethargic. It appeared to be heading toward the paralysis stage of rabies,'' Lethig said. ``We chased it around formore than two days.''

Most bats carry rabies - but few come into contact with people, Hunter said. ``They don't tend to start epidemics,'' he said. But raccoons are more likely to have contact with people and domestic animals - and, therefore, are more likely to spread the disease.

``When you find your first rabid raccoon, you know you've got more out there,'' Hunter said. Wooded areas have an average of 50 raccoons per square mile, state statistics show. And rabid raccoon mothers almost always pass the disease onto their offspring.

To help control the spread of rabies - and protect people from the disease, which has been documented since 600 B.C. - health officials say everyone should vaccinate their pets. Dogs and cats that have gotten rabies shots still can contract the disease. But they are much less likely to - or to spread it to their owners.

Even vaccinated animals need to have a booster if they are exposed to wild animal bites, Lethig said. They have to be quarantined for at least 10 days after the encounter to watch for signs of rabies. And all dogs and cats should be contained in pens or on leashes to minimize their contact with potentially rabid raccoons, possums and skunks.

``Rabies is transmitted through saliva. The disease can live up to 30 minutes outside the host animal,'' Dare County Animal Shelter Manager Lauri Betts said. ``So it can be transmitted through the bloodstream even if there isn't an actual bite from a rabid animal.''

Officials said they do not want to alarm local residents. But they want them to be aware of the dangers of rabies. They advised everyone not to feed or approach wild animals or keep any as pets.

And they said if a normally nocturnal animal, such as a raccoon or possum, is seen during the day - or if the animal is especially aggressive - people should call animal control officers immediately.

Rabies, however, also can take on a ``dumb form'' that causes the infected animals to appear sleepy or even paralyzed. So just because an animal is not snapping at things or foaming at the mouth does not mean it doesn't have rabies.

``Animal control officers will respond to wild animal calls,'' Dare County Health Department Director Anne Thomas said. ``Any time you're bitten or scratched by a wild animal, you need to call your doctor or the health department. These recent cases are a cause for concern.''

The last confirmed case of rabies in Dare County was a raccoon found on Colington Island in 1993.

The most recent case of a human having rabies in North Carolina was in the 1950s, Hunter said.

Two dogs in Montgomery and Northampton counties tested positive for rabies last month, and cats were confirmed to have the disease the same month in Harnett and Stanly counties.

In northeastern North Carolina, Hyde County has had one rabid fox and three raccoons this year. Perquimans County has had one rabid cat and one raccoon. And there has been one rabid raccoon found in Washington County since January. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

ABOUT RABIES

Signs of rabies:

Marked behavior change. Animals may seek solitude, stop eating or

drinking or have frequent urination. Affectionate animals become

nasty. Nasty animals become affectionate. Nocturnal animals start

wandering around in daylight hours.

Excited behavior. Animals become aggressive, irritable, confused.

Paralytic signs. Animals have trouble walking or standing. They

look spacy or gaze into the distance. They gag or salivate

excessively.

If you see a potentially rabid animal:

Call the local animal control office immediately. In Dare County,