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County IDs positive rabies case in Planterra Ridge

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

Residents in the Planterra Ridge area of Peachtree City had an exciting day last Tuesday as several residents saw a fox walking around the neighborhood. Calls were made to the Fayette County Animal Control office, which tracked the fox through the incoming calls to a house where a resident had killed the animal after it had attacked one of his pets, a cat, and had entered his garage and started going after his dogs in their pens.

A rabies test can only be performed on the brain of an animal so the corpse of the fox was decapitated. The Animal Control employees sent the head of the fox to the Atlanta Public Health Lab, which performed the rabies test and rushed back the results, which were positive.

Area residents received a letter after the incident, letting them know about the situation and advising them to make sure that their pets were up to date on their rabies vaccinations and to follow the county leash law, which is in place to prevent exposure to rabies.

Abi-Hassan stated that it has been a year since there has been a positive rabies case in Fayette County and that animals such as raccoons, possums and bats are sent out for testing numerous times throughout the year.

“We hope it was an isolated incident,” said Abi-Hassan of the fox incident last week. He urged the resident who killed the fox to be seen by a physician immediately to determine if he had been exposed. The resident’s dogs were all up to date on their vaccinations but the cat was not and will have to undergo six months of observation either at the county’s animal shelter or a veterinarian’s office.

Animal control suspected something was wrong with the fox because it was walking around during the day and foxes are nocturnal animals. Abi-Hassan feels they were very lucky to have had the situation end so quickly but also stated that they don’t know how long the fox was in the area and if any other animals were exposed.

“Rabies is a fatal disease and can become an epidemic very easily,” said Abi-Hassan, who added that rabies can be brought inside a home due from animals that are kept outside. Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis and exists in the saliva of mammals. It is spread through biting or scratching or when infected saliva makes contact with open cuts or wounds or with the mouth, eyes and nose.

Director of Animal Control in Fayette County Miguel Abi-Hassan felt the resident acted appropriately to defend his pets but urges others that find themselves in a similar situation to not put themselves in a position where they could be exposed. If a resident feels threatened by an animal, they are urged to call the Fayette County Animal Control office at 770-716-4330 or 911. There is a support staff to deal with aggressive animals 24 hours a day.