Rabies rarer than feared
Disease hysteria threatens campus cats
By Callan Bentley
Flat Hat Variety Editor
Early in September of 1992, a James City County resident went out to feed her cats. Hearing an animal scratching on the opposite side of her car, the woman went around, expecting to embrace a missing kitty. Instead, a gray fox was there, and it was rabid. The fox attacked the woman, biting her five times before her husband grabbed the animal by the throat and beat it on the ground. The fox was knocked senseless, but not before it had bitten the husband as well.
Upon returning to campus several weeks ago, students were informed that another case of rabies had surfaced in the region, and this time the disease was closer to home. A feral cat living near Swem Library had attacked several people and, after being killed, had tested positive for rabies. The rabid cat's mate was also killed though not tested, along with several other local wild felines. This indiscriminate round-up of feral cats has some people concerned, because although only one individual has been tested so far, many animals have been destroyed.
What is it about rabies that turns ordinary animals into possessed beasts with bad attitudes?
Rabies, also referred to as hydrophobia, is a viral disease of mammals and humans. It is characterized by an irritation of the nervous system followed by paralysis and, in virtually every case, death. Death usually occurs seven to 25 days after symptoms first appear. The onset happens after an incubation period that can range from as short as ten days to as long as a full year, but more commonly ranging from 30 to 60 days. This incubation time is shorter if the transmitting bite is closer to the head.
The virus is transmitted through the saliva, so all mammal bites should be treated as possible rabies infections. Symptoms in humans include sensitivity around the wound site, changes in temperature, mental depression, restlessness, fever, states of rage alternating with periods of calm, and violent convulsions. Attempts to drink anything result in extremely painful spasms of the larynx (a.k.a. the "voicebox"). Foaming at the mouth may occur as a consequence of excess saliva that cannot be swallowed. These spasms are so debilitating that the victim eventually refuses to drink, in spite of great thirst. Bizarrely enough, the laryngeal spasms can be triggered by seemingly innocuous events. Even a stimulus as mild as a light breeze can set off a spasm, which in turn can lead to asphyxiation and death.
There are two forms of the disease, dubbed the "furious" form and the "dumb" form. In the former, the affected individual acts agitated and aggressive (like the James City fox). Habit change and paralysis predominate in the latter.
Rabies can be carried by the bites of raccoons, foxes, squirrels, skunks, coyotes, and bats. Cats, dogs, cattle, and horses are the domestic animals most often afflicted with rabies. Most rabies cases are transmitted through bites of individuals with the furious form of the disease. There have also been documented cases of aerosol transmission (through the air). Aerosol-transmitted rabies is extremely rare, though, and is not something for the average person to worry about. It has been found only in two situations: rabies research laboratories, and in two caves where humid air was saturated with vapors given off by tens of millions of bats.
Following a bite by any of the likely species, the wound should be scrubbed with soap and water, doused in antiseptic, and taken straight to the doctor for examination. If possible (it pains me to say this), the animal should be killed, with care being taken to preserve the head. An examination of the brain tissue is necessary to determine whether the animal is affected with rabies.
A series of shots given over the 28 days following the bite can prevent the onset of the disease. The shots include a passive antibody treatment plus a vaccine.
But this information will never apply to the vast majority of people in Williamsburg, or any other area of the planet. While you should be aware of the presence of the disease, chances are that you will not encounter it. Chances are also that most of the cats you meet on campus are not affected.