Coyote tests positive for rabies in record year for disease

FARMINGTON — a Cortez, Colo., coyote which tested positive for rabies is the 138th confirmed rabies case this year, the beginning of what officials are calling a record-breaking year for rabies in the state, Colorado officials said Tuesday.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife and Montezuma County Health Department submitted the coyote for rabies testing after property owners reported it was acting strange and trying to enter a fenced enclosure with dogs, Lori Maldonado, a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment spokeswoman stated in a release.

Confirmed results suggest the coyote, which also showed no fear of loud noises or being approached by humans, was infected by a rabid bat.

The rabid coyote is just one case of what Colorado officials expect will be a record-setting year for the central nervous system virus.

Of the 138 confirmed cases this year, 64 bats, 62 skunks, seven foxes, one domestic cat, one horse, one mule deer and one muskrat tested positive for the disease, Maldonado reported.

Officials believe the high numbers of rabies is because of the spread of the disease in skunks from Eastern Colorado toward the front Range.

New Mexico officials reported 13 confirmed cases in the state, none from San Juan County, Paul Ettestad, state public health veterinarian said.

“We haven’t been seeing that much rabies so far this year,” Ettestad said.

There are several varieties of rabies — skunk rabies, bat rabies and a new strain seen in foxes, which officials refer to as fox rabies, Ettestad said.

Skunk rabies — typically transferred from skunk to skunk — is common along the eastern border and southern New Mexico-Texas border.

Fox rabies, a new strain in New Mexico, started in 2007 in Arizona but is spreading into Sierra, Grant and Catron counties, Ettestad said.

The most common strain, bat rabies, is also the most prevalent in San Juan County, likely because the disease is dispersed easier because of bats’ ability to fly.

“There is always a low level of that rabies everywhere,” Ettestad said. “The last positive bat (in San Juan County) was seen in 2002.”

The biggest danger for humans contracting the disease is from unvaccinated dogs and cats.

“What’s really scary is if you have a dog or cat that is unvaccinated,” Ettestad said. “They have a lot higher interaction with people. It can take a few days when a dog or cat is infected before they show symptoms of rabies.”

by then the domestic animal can have contact with dozens of people, he said.

“That’s one of the reasons it’s so important to make sure your dogs and cats are vaccinated, not only to protect themselves, but to prevent them from exposing a number of people to rabies,” Ettestad said.

a person who is bit by a rabid animal can undergo a series of treatments, but they can cost $3,000 to $5,000, he said.

The first shot is injected into the wound followed by four shots in the arm over the course of two weeks.

“Again, it’s something you want to avoid,” Ettestad said.

five bats have tested positive for the disease in New Mexico this year, three from neighboring Rio Arriba County.

“A lot of times, especially in the southwest part of the state where we have fox rabies, which is really aggressive, we also encourage people to get their horses vaccinated,” Ettestad said.

Rabies is a virus that affects the central nervous system, passed through saliva of an infected animal, Maldonado stated.

Signs of rabies include abnormal behavior, bats found on the ground, wild animals approaching humans or having difficulty walking or moving, and excessive bellowing in cows or hissing and chirping in bats, Maldonado said.

People who come into contact with a possible infected animal are asked to call the county health department at (505) 327-4461 or animal control at (505) 334-6622.

Elizabeth Piazza:

Avoiding rabies