Wondering about rabies?

November

For all those who wonder if rabid animals are crawling over the landscape, consider this: from Jan. 1 of this year until Sept. 30, the state Health Department tested 708 animals from Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties for rabies. Of those, only about 5 percent, or 37, were positive for rabies.

The discovery of a rabid skunk in Cold Spring sent me to the state DOH’s web site and its rabies section. There, you can find tons of data about rabies in the state and learn about how the virus spread across New York.

Rabies in New York State was initially a disease carried by domestic dogs, a problem brought to all of North America by European settlers in the 1700s. With the advent of record keeping in the 1930s, reported cases of animal rabies fluctuated between 20 and 600 annually. Most cases were recorded in domestic dogs although there was also some spillover to livestock. From 1925 until 1944 there were 10 human rabies fatalities, all linked to domestic dog contact.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm by Mike Risinit.
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