Slate Belt police are warning residents to be cautious after five rabies cases were confirmed in the past few weeks in the region.
Animal Control Officer Christine Mammi said the recent cases were found in the past two weeks in Wind Gap, Pen Argyl, Mt. Bethel and Plainfield Township.
All involved raccoons and the raccoons tested positive for rabies, she said.
Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center has also had some recent rabies cases, Mammi said.
Last week, Blairstown Township, New Jersey, officials reported an elderly couple who had been feeding a feral cat for years required medical attention after the cat attacked them and tested positive for rabies.
The amount of local rabies cases is “not at all” normal for this time of year, Mammi said.
Mammi, who has 30 years of experience in animal control, said she usually sees rabies cases go up slightly during this time of year, “but this is the most I’ve ever seen.”
In the Slate Belt, one rabid raccoon was found in a McDonald’s parking lot where it charged at a responding police officer.
“He got out of his car and it ran directly at him,” Mammi said.
Another raccoon was found wandering down the street and was picked up by a volunteer.
“It got extremely aggressive in her car and she had to pull over and have the police euthanize it,” Mammi said.
The biggest problem, Mammi said, is that the public sees the infected animal and may think it was hit by a car or injured, and wants to help it.
“And unfortunately (rabies) is not something that can be helped,” she said.
Rabies is a viral disease that is deadly if people don’t receive medical care before symptoms start, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It spreads primarily through bites or scratches from an infected animal.
Animals with rabies can be seen staggering, drooling, falling over, or coming directly at people, Mammi said. People should stay far away from any animal displaying those symptoms.
The Slate Belt Regional Police Department said residents who think an animal is rabid should not attempt to touch, approach or trap the animal.
When a friend sent Mammi a video of a staggering animal she said she immediately told them, “go in your house and stay in there.”
Officials are also urging people who feed feral cats outside to take precautions.
Cats are the domestic animals most frequently reported to have rabies, according to the CDC, with around 200-300 cats reported to have rabies each year in the United States. Raccoons can also be attracted to cat food left outside.
Residents should monitor their feeding locations and bring the food inside overnight, officials said.
Mammi has had to get her share of rabies preventative shots.
“It’s not as bad as it used to be,” she said. “But they’re very, very expensive, and you have to keep going back again and again and again to finish the series.”
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