Rabies in Hamilton discovered after dog/raccoon fight in animal control van

[spinster]

Worth reading:

original story: http://www.thespec.com/news-story/61...-services-van/

Diagnosis: http://thechronicleherald.ca/canada/...n-hamilton-ont.

[Sharon]

Bizarro

Ridiculous to put them together and also ridiculous :"We were advised by the dog owner that the dogs were not up to date with their vaccines."

If they were mad about paying $61.00 , they won't like the quarantine bill.

[NorthernGrouse]

The raccoons in my area have been out of control for years, but there is something going on now that frightens me. In the past month I have seen 3 raccoons in broad daylight, acting confused, and with no fear of humans.

I let Boe run in the ravine near my house, but may not do so again .... we came across a dead raccoon with no signs of a struggle, it appeared that it just dropped dead. It was in a meadow about 50 yards off the path .... the meadow that I have been using to work on Boe's retrieving. :-(

[last5oh_302]

There's a dead raccoon in the park across from my house (just lying in field) and it has been lying there for several weeks now. It doesn't appear to be damaged at all, no marks or any indication of a scuffle. I guess I better report it.

[Species8472]

The raccoons in my area have been out of control for years, but there is something going on now that frightens me. In the past month I have seen 3 raccoons in broad daylight, acting confused, and with no fear of humans.

I let Boe run in the ravine near my house, but may not do so again .... we came across a dead raccoon with no signs of a struggle, it appeared that it just dropped dead. It was in a meadow about 50 yards off the path .... the meadow that I have been using to work on Boe's retrieving. :-(

Rabies in coons is exceedingly rare in Ontario. The coon in the article is the first confirmed Ontario case in 10 years. Most likey it is distemper that you are seeing in the coons that are acting strange.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...fall-1.3294132

Distemper can be passed to canines and can be quite serious, however if the dog's shots are up to date he/she will likely be fine on the off chance there is an encounter with a coon.

[welsh]

In fact, raccoon-strain rabies was completely unknown in Ontario until about fifteen years ago. Even arctic fox-strain rabies, which is our endemic strain of rabies, is very rare ... thanks to pet vaccination and an extremely effective anti-rabies program by the MNR (you know, the Ministry that people say produces no results?), rabies has been almost eradicated in this province for a couple of decades now.

[MikePal]

I second that..the MNR was very proactive with the Rabies outbreak they had in this area about 15 yrs back. My farm was under the umbrella they cast to stop the spread of rabies after it was found just south of here. I had an MNR employee come thur for a few weeks baiting live traps and they were doing aerial drops of vaccines etc. Their efforts apparently worked and they didn't find any spread of the disease.

I don't know what the status it today, but there are no warning signs at the Vets office.

edit add; spoke too soon, there was a Rabies warning issued in the far east corner of the province this past spring.

http://www.standard-freeholder.com/2...blic-on-rabies

[yellow dog]

I can remember some 20 years ago we had aerial drops of rabies vaccine in the Kemptville area. I am not aware if the MNR Ninjas are still doing this sort of thing.

[Waftrudnir]

I can remember some 20 years ago we had aerial drops of rabies vaccine in the Kemptville area. I am not aware if the MNR Ninjas are still doing this sort of thing.

http://www.oodmag.com/news/province-...tract-disease/
I cannot remember exactly, but about five years ago they just dropped vaccine packages an hour north of Toronto

Rabies is not fun; there is no effective treatment after the symptoms show (yes you can get post exposure vaccination, but who does for every little scratch) and it can be transmitted by pretty much any mammal
Money on rabies eradication is well spent...

[NorthernGrouse]

Rabies in coons is exceedingly rare in Ontario. The coon in the article is the first confirmed Ontario case in 10 years. Most likey it is distemper that you are seeing in the coons that are acting strange.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...fall-1.3294132

Distemper can be passed to canines and can be quite serious, however if the dog's shots are up to date he/she will likely be fine on the off chance there is an encounter with a coon.

Thank you for that info. One of the neighbours mentioned that there has been a distemper outbreak in raccoons in our area. We came across a second dead racoon yesterday, this one was almost entirely decomposed.

Boe's shots are up-to-date.