Rabies or Distemper

On December 16, 2015 I wrote about some local raccoons that tested positive for rabies. The total number in the area is 10. With any luck, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) plan of dropping raccoon food with rabies vaccination will continue to show no new cases.

Then came December 28, 2015 and the fears were renewed. A police officer in the downtown area of Toronto attempted to remove a strange acting raccoon form a busy city sidewalk. This officer was bite by the raccoon and still we have no word if the raccoon was rabid.

Rabies: The Fear Factor

Ontario has recorded it first case of rabies in 10 years. This has happened in my backyard (sort to speak). Stoney Creek is the site of as many as four rabid raccoons. As of December 14th a fifth raccoon tested positive for rabies in the Haldimand Region. 

Rabies is a viral disease that has been around for centuries. It is unusual for a few reasons. Rabies is transmitted from animals saliva to humans though bites and scratches. Human to human transmission is very rare but possible. The virus goes for the human’s nerves and follows the path to the spinal cord then into the brain. Only then does the human show symptoms of rabies. This process can take just a few days to a year.