news release
ANDREW J. SPANO, Westchester County Executive JOSHUA LIPSMAN, M.D., M.P.H., Commissioner of Health SUSAN TOLCHIN, Director of Communications

CONTACT: SUSAN TOLCHIN

MARY LANDRIGAN

(914) 813-5000 (After Hours)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 29, 2004

RABID RACCOON FOUND IN HARTSDALE

The Westchester County Department of Health today announced that a juvenile raccoon found in a storm drain on North Washington Avenue in Hartsdale on June 25, 2004 tested positive for rabies. It was reported to the Health Department that children may have been throwing food down the storm drain to the raccoon. The Health Department is asking parents to check with their children to find out if they had contact with the raccoon. Anyone who may have had contact with this raccoon may need to receive immediate post-exposure rabies treatment and should call the Health Department at (914) 813-5000.

Rabies is a fatal disease that is spread through the bite or saliva of infected animals. Those animals most commonly infected are raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes. However, domestic animals such as cats and dogs are also at risk because they can easily contract rabies from wild or stray animals.

If you are bitten by a rabid animal or come in contact with its saliva, you may need to receive immediate post-exposure treatment. This consists of a series of vaccination shots given over the period of a month. It is 100% effective in preventing rabies if given early enough after exposure and before symptoms develop. Once symptoms occur, in humans or in animals, death is inevitable.

A change in an animal’s behavior is often the first sign of rabies. A rabid animal may become either abnormally aggressive or unusually tame. It may lose fear of people and become docile or it may become particularly excited and irritable. Staggering, spitting and frothing at the mouth are sometimes noted in infected

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animals. Adults should encourage children to avoid touching unfamiliar animals and to immediately tell an adult if they have been bitten or scratched by an animal.

The Westchester County Department of Health will be posting flyers in the vicinity to alert residents about the issue.

All animal bites or contact with animals suspected of having rabies must be reported to the Westchester County Health Department at (914) 813-5000, 24 hours a day. To learn more about rabies and its prevention, residents can also call the Rabies Hotline at (914) 813-5010 to hear a taped message or they can visit the Health Department website at www.westchestergov.com/health.

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