Rabid Skunk Brings
Costly Consequences
By Sandy Cooch

John Frazer of Chelsea is looking at a $12,000 outlay, as a result of brief run-in with a rabid skunk around Christmas at his small Route 110 farm.

Frazer had tried, without success, to locate and shoot the animal after it chased his wife Carol and a dog into the house.

It even "rattled at the door," Frazer said.

With no snow and no tracks, however, he never spotted the skunk again. Unbeknownst to Frazer, the skunk at the time apparently bit one of the four black Angus cows he keeps out in a field.

That cow—not vaccinated for rabies—turned mysteriously ill last week, and, following a few visits from a veterinarian, was put down. The vet, Dr. Thomas Stuwe of Barre, had initially suspected that the cow had a tooth problem or had swallowed a piece of hardware. A subsequent test confirmed that the cow had rabies.

Unfortunately, Frazer, his wife Carol, and a friend who helps on the farm all had contact with the cow’s mouth—and possibly infectious saliva. All three are undergoing an expensive series of shots, which will cost about $2500 per person. Add the loss of the pregnant cow and vet bills, vaccinations for his other animals, and lost work—Frazer does welding—and there’s the $12,000.

His situation "is all water over the dam now, but it might wake up other people" Frazer said this week. "If it can hit the paper and warn other people, they won’t have to be in the same place."

And, it seems likely that others in Orange County might be dealing with rabies this year, according to state public health veterinarian, Dr. Bob Johnson.

Last year saw a total of 73 reported rabies cases statewide; there have been seven already this year, two of them in Orange County.

The other Orange County incident also involved a skunk and livestock, in this case four dairy cows in a barn. The skunk bit all four. Those cows were vaccinated and are under observation, according to Dr. Johnson.

Unusual Case

Dr. Johnson noted that the Frazer case was a little unusual, as the sick cow had not exhibited the symptoms most common in a rabid cow—"knuckling on its hind fetlocks and a limp tail."

The only "hallmark" symptom the animal did have, he said was "unusual vocalizations."

"Dr. Stuwe is one of the best vets I know, a great diagnostician," Johnson said. "Most vets would have probably missed this."

Nor does Frazer fault his vet, whom he calls "a wicked nice guy."

"It’s not anybody’s fault but mine," said Frazer, who said he had vaccinated his cows more regularly in the past, when he kept them in a barn. His animals have been "healthier and happier" left outside to range freely, but it was much harder to nab them for vaccinations, he said.

Dr. Johnson this week noted that the incubation time for rabies—the time between getting infected by a bite or rare "non-bite" exposure via wet infectious saliva or nervous tissue—can vary from a few weeks to six months. Much more brief and intense is the infectious period, which occurs at the end, when the rabies virus reaches the animal’s salivary glands. Around then the disease also hits the brain, sparking "weird" behavior.

Rabies, once it develops, is always fatal. Treatment—the series of shots now being undertaken by three people in Chelsea—must be started within a few days of contact.

Eating undercooked or raw beef from an infected cow—or drinking that cow’s raw milk—could spread the disease, Johnson said.

Johnson stressed that dog and cat owners should definitely vaccinate their pets. Livestock owners should, at least, "discuss it (vaccination) as a strategy."

Johnson said he realizes that dairy farmers face high costs and tight margins, and that vaccinating a herd presents yet another cost.

"They have to push a pencil and see what makes sense," he said.

John Frazer said this week that he’s decided to get out of raising beef cows.

"Farming’s a seven-day-a-week job, 24 hours a day, and it doesn’t matter if you have two or 250 (animals). You have to do the whole show, or nothing," he said.