A Missoula County resident is getting a series of rabies shots after being bitten by a rabid skunk. It’s the first time rabies had been identified in an animal other than a bat west of the continental divide in nearly 20 years, health officials say.
State Assistant Veterinarian Thanee Szymanski says the incident happened September 10 in the Harpers Bridge Road area of Missoula County.
"There was an interaction between some local dogs and the skunk, and one of the homeowners in the area was able to get the skunk away from the dog, and recognized that something was abnormal, and so they submitted it for testing. And I think after the fact, it was determined that somebody in that same area had had an interaction with the skunk the previous day, and so actually when they were trying to get away from the skunk, I think they fell, and were bitten on the leg by the skunk."
Four dogs believed to have had contact with the skunk have been quarantined in their owners’ homes. Three of the four dogs were past due for their annual rabies vaccination, Szymanski says. There is no post-exposure series of shots for dogs like there is for humans, but Szymanski says previous vaccinations in the dogs means they’re likely to survive.
She adds that a majority of Montana counties require dogs to get rabies vaccinations.
"I can’t give you a number as far as compliance, but I certainly know that on an annual basis when we deal with cases of exposure, so dogs that tussle with skunks or raccoons or whatever species it is that transmits rabies, we deal with a lot of non-vaccinated pets."
Szymanski says a colony of 15 to 20 feral cats that are also believed to have had contact with the rabid skunk are being captured and will be euthanized to prevent further spread of the virus.
She says she believes these rabies exposures were an isolated event, but that a state rule says unvaccinated cats, dogs and ferrets can’t travel outside of Missoula County for the next 60 days.
The skunk at the center of the incident has been killed and a sample from it sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing. Investigators are interested to see if it may have contracted rabies from a bat.
Find more information on rabies from the CDC.
