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Last week, driving away from my house, I spotted a raccoon on the side of the road. The occasional raccoon sighting is not particularly unusual, although seeing it during the day was a bit out of the ordinary.
Driving closer, I realized that the raccoon, standing with its feet close together, so its back was arched, wasn't moving. It swayed a little, but otherwise didn't move.
Thinking it might have rabies, I called the Preston County Health Department and was told that without a human encounter, they don't test.
While I wanted to know for sure if the sick critter less than a mile from my home had rabies, I also understand how resources could quickly be depleted if they had to chase after every raccoon or other unusual wildlife people spot.
A few days later, I saw another raccoon behaving strangely, again during the day. This one walked toward my car, and didn't move as I pulled off the road a bit to drive around the critter.
Rabies has always been a mild worry of mine, but seeing possible cases so close to home ramped up my fear. Wanting to be logical about it, I sought information either to help quell or exacerbate my concerns.
Rabies is an acute viral disease affecting the nervous system of mammals, which ultimately infects the brain. Death usually occurs within just days of the symptoms onset.
In animals, symptoms may include either aggression or unusual lack of fear, vocalization changes, hyper-salivation, and paralysis onset shortly before death. Early symptoms can often be mistaken for other diseases or reasons for behavioral changes.
In humans, rabies can often present like many other viruses with symptoms such as fever, headache, weakness, etc.
I read that if bitten by an animal you think may have rabies, you should wash the wound with soap and water for 15 minutes, and contact your local health department immediately.
The Merck Veterinary Manual informs that, to my surprise, onset of symptoms can take weeks, or even months.
I had assumed that raccoons, bats and dogs were the primary rabies transmitters, but learned that all mammals are susceptible, including skunks, cats, bobcats, livestock and others.
To confirm that an animal has rabies, it needs to be euthanized, so a laboratory can take sample tissue from its brain stem.
Numbers of confirmed cases of rabies have dropped in West Virginia over the last few decades. Looking at data back to 2000, I was comforted to see how far the numbers have fallen. However, this year reported cases already exceed last year's.
In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been airdropping oral vaccines for wildlife consumption around the state.
The most comforting information I found was about how long it takes for the onset of symptoms, providing a window for treatment. On the flip side, the majority of human rabies cases (not many, nationwide), were due to the patients not knowing they'd been exposed - much less comforting.
The CDC's recommendation for post-exposure care involves wound care, then one dose of Human Rabies Immune Globulin for immediate antibodies, followed by four doses of rabies vaccine over two weeks, followed by testing for rabies antibodies.
To continue enjoying my time outdoors, I'm reminding myself that the raccoons I saw may not have had rabies - maybe distemper, or something else.
I also know that just seeing sick animals recently doesn't indicate a bigger threat. Perhaps the timing and location of my errand was such that I coincidentally saw sick animals that are always around.