Watch Out for Rabies

Rabies has a 100% kill rate.

Without treatment, anyone bitten or exposed to the saliva of a rabid animal will die. The disease is going around. A few weeks ago, Amherst residents were bitten by a rabid baby fox. This week two South Hadley residents were attacked by a rabid cat.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports:

SOUTH HADLEY - A man and a 9-year-old girl are being treated for rabies after a cat that bit them last week tested positive for the disease Monday.

It is the second cat with rabies found in town in less than three weeks. The attack occurred June 26 near Newton Street and Roosevelt Avenue, said Robert Dufault, the town's animal control officer.

"It came out of a woodpile and bit a little girl first, and then a man tried to push it away and he got bit," Dufault said.

The cat was described as small and dark gray. It was captured in a trap and tested at the state Department of Public Health laboratory in Jamaica Plain.

Both the man and the girl began treatment for rabies even before the test results were known, Dufault said. Rabies is a fatal disease if not treated. Anyone who believes they came into contact with the cat should call the Board of Health at 538-5013.

Over the weekend of June 14 and 15, three dogs and four people were bitten or scratched by another cat in the area of Hillside Avenue, Granby Road and Wellington Avenue.