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WELLSBURG -- Brooke County health officials are urging residents to remain vigilant as additional cases of rabies continue to be identified in the county.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had another rabid raccoon,” Brooke County Health Administrator Mike Bolen reported during Tuesday’s meeting of the Brooke County Commission.
The latest case is part of a series of rabid animals found in the county, with most cases occurring in the Bethany area. In May, Bolen said two cases had been confirmed there, with a third announced only a few weeks later.
“That makes four total,” Bolen said of the confirmed cases in Brooke County, noting an additional case of rabies was identified earlier this year just across the county line in Ohio County.
Bolen previously said Brooke County typically records one rabid raccoon every five to seven years, making the recent increase in confirmed cases a concern.
He thanked local and state agencies for assisting with rabies investigations.
“The sheriff’s department has been really good about dispatching these animals,” Bolen said.
Bolen noted the Brooke County Animal Shelter recently hosted a rabies vaccination clinic for county pets, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture assisting with testing.
Rabies is a viral disease that is almost always fatal once symptoms appear, Bolen said. It is transmitted through the bite or scratch of an infected animal.
Health officials ask residents to report any animal showing signs of rabies to the Brooke County 911 Dispatch Center at (304) 737-3660.
Officials also advise residents to keep their pets vaccinated against rabies, avoid contact with wild animals, and secure garbage and pet food if stored outdoors.
In other business Tuesday, Bolen requested permission from commissioners to purchase pre-exposure rabies vaccines for two members of his staff at a cost of $980, covering two doses for each employee.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pre-exposure vaccination does “not negate the need for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), but simplifies PEP for persons who are at a higher risk for rabies than the general U.S. population, and is believed to provide some protection if PEP is inadvertently not sought or delayed.”