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A raccoon tested positive for rabies in Harpswell on Wednesday, Aug. 12, prompting state health officials to warn residents to take precautions to avoid contracting the potentially fatal illness.
“Make sure to never touch an animal that is wild or unknown to you,” Dr. Megan Porter, a veterinarian and infectious disease educator with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote in a letter to town officials on Thursday, Aug. 13. “You should also make sure your animals are up to date on the rabies vaccine.”
Town Administrator Kristi Eiane said the CDC did not identify the part of town in which the raccoon was found, or give any other details. A spokesperson for the CDC said the only information she had was that the raccoon was found near a pond.
The spokesperson, Lindsay Hammes, said a state game warden brought in the animal on Tuesday, Aug. 11, and the positive test came back Wednesday night.
No humans were infected, Hammes said.
Hammes said the state has identified 29 rabid animals in Maine and four in Cumberland County this year. None of the others were in Harpswell, according to data on the CDC’s website.
“Rabies is a virus that affects the brain and spinal cord,” according to a CDC fact sheet. “Rabies in people is rare in the United States but more common among wild animals in Maine.”
Rabies is spread when an infected animal bites or scratches an animal or person. It is transmitted via the saliva of an infected animal, or through its brain or spinal cord tissue.
In addition to raccoons, rabies is most commonly found in bats, foxes and skunks. Infected animals may seem fearful, drunk, lame, mean or overly friendly. The state laboratory can test an animal’s brain tissue to see if it has rabies; it can’t be definitively identified by sight.
If someone thinks they may have been infected, they should clean the wound thoroughly with soap and water and seek immediate medical advice and, if needed, treatment. People who suspect an animal has been infected should call the Cumberland County dispatch center at 800-501-1111 to be connected with the appropriate animal control officer.
For more information, call the Maine CDC reporting and consultation office at 800-821-5821 and/or visit maine.gov/dhhs/rabies.
