Don’t pet any strange skunks

Bud Patterson
Posted 5/31/17

Springtime is a time to shake off the effects of winter and get outdoors, put some seeds in the ground, mow the yard, get some exercise and explore a new trail. But it is good to know with whom you are sharing the great outdoors.

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Don’t pet any strange skunks

Posted

TORRINGTON – Springtime is a time to shake off the effects of winter and get outdoors, put some seeds in the ground, mow the yard, get some exercise and explore a new trail. But it is good to know with whom you are sharing the great outdoors.
Spring is the start of rabies season in Wyoming. There have already been five confirmed cases of rabid skunks in Sheridan County. In 2014, 46 animal tested positive for rabies in Goshen County; 44 skunks, one cat and one fox. At the time, it was a very atypical year
for rabies.
“2014 was the first incident of this particular variation of rabies reported in Goshen County,” said Dr. Myrna Miller with the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab. “It turned out to be of a Nebraska lineage, which isn’t surprising.
“Skunks tend to follow along creeks and rivers, like the North Platte River, so it isn’t surprising the variant finally made its way into the state.”
The real surprise is what happened following 2014. In 2015 and 2016, not a single case of rabies was documented in the county. But Miller is quick to point out that doesn’t mean rabies have been eradicated in Goshen County.
“Rabies tends to be cyclical,” she explained. “High incident years tend to be followed by low incident years. Also, in 2015, there was some misunderstanding (between state agencies) and the sampling fell off the cliff.

“But testing was back to normal in 2016 and we saw no positive land mammal cases in Goshen County.”
Unfortunately, 2015 saw Wyoming’s first human fatality due to rabies when a woman in Fremont County was bitten by a bat but did not seek medical help until after symptoms started to appear. After eight days in hospitals in Wyoming and Utah, the woman died from the infection.
“Unfortunately, for all practical purposes, once symptoms start, (rabies infection) is usually uniformly fatal,” Miller said. “The only treatment for rabies is a post-exposure prophylactic. It is highly successful, but must be started prior to apparent symptoms.”
Miller went on to say the reason there are very few cases of rabies in humans is because of pet vaccinations. That has almost eliminated rabies cases in the United States.
“How most people are infected now is by bats,” she added. “Usually an infected bat doesn’t get aggressive or show abnormal behavior like land mammals will. And often a bat bite is very, very hard to see.”
Though there hasn’t been a rabies case in Goshen County in the last two years, Miller said 2017 has the characteristics of another rabies year.
“This year in the Laramie area and eastern counties it has been a wet spring, and that bodes well for a healthy skunk population, so we should see an up-tick in the skunk population,” she said. “That could mean an increase in the number of infected skunks that are reported.”
It is pretty simple to avoid contracting rabies, Miller said, if a few simple precautions are taken.
“First, make sure your pets get vaccinated. Avoid animals, especially skunks and raccoons that are acting abnormally, like wandering around in the middle of the day or not running away from humans or a barking dog.
“Enjoy wildlife from a distance. Don’t try to nurse sick wildlife back to health. Call the animal control department in your city, or if you’re in the country call the game and fish office.
“And if you happen to trap or shoot an animal you think is acting abnormally, you can take it to your veterinarian and they will get it to the state vet lab for testing. There is no cost to associated with
the testing.”