Putting Rabies Under the Microscope

Animal Control Officer Paul Miller remembers 1991 well.

Miller was on the job for three years when the Mid-Atlantic strain of rabies came to Connecticut, working its way up from Florida, and the state Legislature decided to require all dogs and cats at least three months old to get vaccinated for the fatal disease.

"In '91 we did over 600 animals," Miller said. "Ever since then, the number goes down every year, but it's still held as a public service because it's the only shot that's mandatory."

Miller said 1991 was a rough year. He said a woman who was leaving a store in downtown Fairfield saw her child outside with what she thought was a fuzzy toy. In reality, a rabid raccoon had climbed onto the boy and bitten him multiple times, Miller said.

"That's what animals do when they have rabies. They act very strange, act aggressive. Sometimes, they get extremely friendly and come out to hang around you, things an animal shouldn't do," he said. "It's scary stuff."

Miller was speaking outside the town's Animal Control Department this morning, which held a rabies vaccination clinic from 10 a.m. to noon. A total of 77 dogs and cats received the vaccine.

Miller said the number's not as high as it once was because more towns now hold low-cost rabies vaccination clinics and residents also can get their pets vaccinated at veterinarians' offices and some pet stores.

"We're not the only show in town. There's lots of options to get a rabies shot," he said. "The rabies vaccine is given to create immunity in the animals to the rabies virus. When injected, and over time, it provides immunity to it. It's virtually 100-percent effective."

Pets at today's clinic received a shot that is good for a year, unless they received a shot last year, which would make today's shot good for three years, Miller said.

The cost of the vaccine was $20, but Miller said anyone who had a state assistance card could have had his or her pet vaccinated for free.

In Fairfield, rabies is most often carried by raccoons and skunks. Foxes carry it also but aren't as prevalent, Miller said.

Rabid animals are more aggressive and less afraid of humans, Miller said.

If a dog or cat doesn't have the vaccine and is bitten by a rabid animal, the owner has two options - euthanize their pet or agree to an in-kennel quarantine for six months, Miller said. "If an animal is going to develop rabies, it would develop it within that six-month timeframe," he said. "There's no treatment once symptoms show in an animal or a person. It's 100 percent fatal."

Miller said two veterinarians need to agree that an animal is rabid before the animal is euthanized. He said the only way to test for rabies is to send the animal's brain to Hartford.

Miller said post-exposure treatments are available for humans who get bitten by a rabid animal and that dogs and cats who are bitten and who already received the vaccine only need a booster shot.

Post-exposure shots for humans are given on the day the bite occurred and then three days, seven days, 14 days and 28 days afterward. "Those are set to give a person the maximum defense if exposed to the rabies virus," he said.

The intent of making rabies shots mandatory for dogs and cats, from the view of state legislators, is that domesticated animals are a buffer between wild animals that have rabies and humans, Miller said.

In 2009, a total of 152 animals in Connecticut tested positive for rabies - of those, the vast majority, at 83, were raccoons. In that year, four raccoons in Fairfield tested positive for rabies, according to the state Department of Public Health's Web site.

In 2008, a total of 200 animals in Connecticut tested positive for rabies, and 108 were raccoons. In that year, three bats, four raccoons and a skunk in Fairfield tested positive for rabies, according to the state Department of Public Health's Web site.

From Jan. 1 to April 7 of this year, a total of 24 animals in Connecticut have tested positive for rabies (18 were raccoons) and none of those rabid animals have been in Fairfield, according to the state Department of Public Health's Web site.

Residents can protect themselves from rabies by:

* Vaccinating their dogs and cats;

* Keeping cats indoors and walking dogs on leashes;

* Avoiding contact with wild animals and never keeping them as pets;

* Calling the Animal Control Department at 203-254-4857 if they see animals who appear to be sick; unusually tame or friendly; angry or biting at everything; very slow or unsteady; out in daylight when they're normally active at night; and drooling a lot.

Today's clinic, sponsored by the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Association, with Dr. John Kristy as the attending veterinarian, had some familiar faces volunteering their time. Holly Lanese, office administrator in the Registrar of Voters' office, Kathy Buzel, secretary to Police Chief David Peck, and Town Clerk Betsy Browne filled out paperwork on the animals after Assistant Animal Control Officer Gina Gambino checked them in.