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Raccoon trapped in Pinellas Park tests positive for rabies
Article published on Thursday, July 3, 2008 |
PINELLAS PARK - A juvenile raccoon trapped in Pinellas Park tested positive for rabies. A second raccoon is considered “suspect.”
According to Dr. Welch Agnew, director of Pinellas County Animal Services, a citizen trapped two young raccoons in the area northwest of the intersection of U.S. 19 and 49th Street in Pinellas Park. Animal Services picked them up June 25.
One of the raccoons tested positive. In the second case, an adult raccoon was trapped in an area north of the same intersection and picked up the same day. The result of that test was inconclusive so that raccoon was termed “suspect.”
Animal Services does not routinely test raccoons that are caught in the wild. County officials operate under the assumption that rabies is never eradicated and they focus on public education, testing raccoons that bite or scratch humans or domestic pets and administering an aggressive oral bait program.
The United States Department of Agriculture is conducting random “rapid rabies tests” in Pinellas County as part of field trials on a new program.
Previous random field tests by the USDA resulted in a positive rabies result last month, with a report received by the county on June 16. In that case, a Clearwater citizen trapped a raccoon in his yard and anonymously dropped it off at Animal Services.
After hearing the June 17 news reports, the resident contacted Animal Services to report his address, and the county then followed a “trap, test and bait” protocol in the area surrounding his neighborhood. The same will be done in the areas of the recent cases.
“While these findings are significant they are not surprising,” said Agnew. “We always knew that rabies was present. We continue to stress to residents the importance of getting their pets vaccinated and of not relocating a trapped raccoon. That just leads to the spread of disease. On our part, Pinellas County aggressively combats the disease with oral rabies bait drops that distribute the vaccine to raccoons in areas of possible contact.”
The following guidelines will help citizens protect their pets and families:
- Keep your pets’ rabies vaccinations current. The rabies vaccine is the first line of defense against rabies, as pets are the ones most likely to interact with wildlife. If they are vaccinated, your family has protection against the virus.
- Do not to feed or interact with wildlife.
- Do not leave out food outdoors for pets or wildlife.
- Citizens who have nuisance raccoons can request a trap from Animal Services. It is recommended that field officers be called when a raccoon is trapped to decrease the chance of injuries.
- Relocating a raccoon is illegal and leads to fighting among raccoons and the spread of disease.
Animal Services is located at 12450 Ulmerton Road, Largo. The rabies line is 727-582-2608. For information about pet licenses and vaccinations, call Pinellas County Animal Services at 727-582-2600.
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Article published on Thursday, July 3, 2008
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