MENDOCINO CO., 12/21/24 — In late November 2024, a wild fox exhibiting unusual behavior was captured south of Little River on the Mendocino Coast and tested for rabies. Laboratory results verified that the fox was infected with the rabies virus.
Rabies is a viral disease that can be spread from the bite of a rabid animal or from contact with the animal’s saliva. Only prompt post-exposure vaccination can prevent the disease. Without treatment, the disease is fatal.
If you encounter a wild animal, do not touch it. If you are bitten by a wild animal, seek immediate medical attention. Protect your pets by keeping their rabies vaccinations up-to-date. Contact your veterinarian to make sure your pets are properly vaccinated.
Rabies can occur throughout California. Animals most commonly infected include bats, skunks, foxes, raccoons, and bobcats. Behavioral signs of rabid animals, wild or domestic, may include staggering, restlessness, aggression, a change of the tone of their barks or growls, or choking.
If you or a loved one are bitten or scratched by an unfamiliar animal or an animal suspected of having rabies, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and running water and then seek care from a doctor or health care provider.
If you see a domestic animal that is sick, injured, dead, orphaned or behaving oddly, contact Mendocino County Animal Control at (707)-463-4427 or Mendocino County Public Health 707-272-8035. If you see a wild animal that is sick, injured, dead, orphaned or behaving oddly, contact California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Eureka Field Office at 707-445-6493. Do NOT handle the animal yourself.
Visit: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Rabies.aspx
I wonder if we can anticipate our government following in Germany’s footsteps. Germany has used aerial distribution of oral rabies vaccines (ORV) to control rabies in foxes. They conducted a series of ORV campaigns between 1983 and 2008. The campaigns covered 87.9% of Germany’s landmass. They used a satellite-navigated system to document the location of bait drops. This allowed for real-time analysis of the bait distribution and identification of areas that needed additional hand distribution. Must we subject the wildlife population, as well as some of our pets, to a painful, agonizing death by rabies because our officials can’t get resources mobilized to address this threat?