The first confirmed case of a rabid land animal in Mississippi since the 1960s has been discovered in Starkville.
Officials with the Mississippi Public Health Laboratory tested the brain tissue of a cat and found that it did have rabies, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health. The cat, a black and white kitten, had been seen in downtown Starkville and in a more remote area near the Thad Cochran Research Park near the Mississippi State University campus. Health officials have urged anyone who was bitten or scratched by a feral cat in these areas in the last 10 days to seek medical attention.
They should also contact the MSDH Office of Epidemiology at 601-576-7725.
“We are actively working to identify those contacts (who may have been exposed to the cat),” Deputy State Epidemiologist Paul Byers said. “We’ve already identified a number of individuals with potential contact and we’re assessing their risk to determine what potential post-exposure medications or vaccinations they may need to prevent rabies in them. Certainly, it’s important for the public to limit their risk for potential exposure to animals that may have rabies.”
Not an ongoing problem
Rabies is a virus that affects the brains of mammals, according to Kerry Blanton, a veterinarian who works at the Animal Clinic of Columbus. Symptoms include aggressiveness and staggering, Blanton said. The animal may also foam at the mouth or become afraid of water, though those symptoms are less common.
Authorities learned of the feral kitten exhibiting abnormal behavior on Sunday, Byers said. The cat was transported to the laboratory on Tuesday where testers confirmed it had rabies.
Though the animal had been exhibiting abnormal behavior, Byers emphasized that testing feral animals for rabies is fairly common. This cat is the first animal other than a bat to be confirmed as having rabies in Mississippi in over 50 years, he added.
Blanton said that though rabid bats are discovered in Mississippi annually, no land animal — such as a cat, dog or even wild animal — has been discovered having rabies in the state since the early 1960s.
Despite the first case of rabies in half a century and the potential of exposure in Starkville, rabies is not an ongoing public health risk, Byers said.
Pet owners in Mississippi are required by law to have their cats and dogs vaccinated for rabies, according to Blanton and District Attorney Forrest Allgood. The penalty for not getting the animal vaccinated can be a fine of up to $5 for the first offense and $50 for a third offense, according to Allgood.
Blanton and Byers both emphasized the important of vaccinating pets against rabies.
“By protecting your pets, you’re also protecting the human population” who are not routinely tested for rabies, Blanton said.
Byers warned citizens not to approach wild or feral animals that are acting strangely but to contact local animal control and have them deal with the animal.
Animal Control Officer Steve Scott routinely checks for rabies vaccinations when he gets a complaint about a pet in Columbus or Lowndes County. He checks to make sure the animal has a tag confirming it received the necessary shots. If that tag isn’t on the dog or cat’s collar, he calls the clinic where the vaccination was done.
If the animal doesn’t have the necessary vaccinations, he issues a citation to the owner and follows them to the animal clinic to ensure the animal gets the shots.
Scott told The Dispatch he issues citations to pet owners for not having the vaccinations around five or six times a month.
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