East Texas rabies cases continue to climb

From staff reports

May 2, 2002 -- The number of rabies cases in East Texas continues to grow, according to Dr. James Wright with the Texas Department of Health zoonosis department, Tyler.

"Our East Texas total cases so far this year is 41 cases. In all of 2001, we had only 68 cases," he said.

Reporting the most recent cases, Wright cited these incidents:

In Trinity County, a child was bitten and scratched by a skunk on March 31. Reports indicate the child saw the skunk on the porch with some cats, and when he opened the door the skunk bit him. The skunk was shot and taken for testing. The child was taken to a hospital in Huntsville where he immediately began rabies post-exposure therapy.

Also in Trinity County, on March 14, a rabid skunk was shot north of Pennington. Upon retrieval, the skunk scratched a man through his gloves. Post-exposure therapy (rabies shots) were considered.

Another rabid skunk was identified in Trinity County on April 12 in Groveton.

In Houston County, several incidents of rabid skunks were reported: on April 3, one case northeast of Crockett and one south of Crockett; on April 5, northeast of Kennard; on April 18 east of Crockett; and on April 20 about 15 miles east of Crockett.

In Henderson County, a skunk killed about 15 miles south of Athens on April 18 was determined to be rabid. On April 11, a skunk found wandering in the street, in the middle of the afternoon, was shot, but the test for rabies was not available.

In Van Zandt County, a rabid skunk was reported March 27 near Mabank.

In Wood County, a rabid skunk was reported on March 24 west of Mineola.

In Lamar County, a rabid skunk was reported on April 1 in the southwest part of Paris.

In these cases, the skunks were shot and killed by homeowners, or were killed by pet dogs.

Wright stressed the need for pets to have their rabies vaccination shots. In the Lamar County incident, the dogs were not vaccinated and the owner, recognizing the potential risk of rabies transmission, chose to humanely destroy the animals.