Rabies may be on rise this year

Keep an eye out for rabid animals.

That is the warning from local animal control officers, some of whom believe this could be a bad year for rabies.

Brenda Hamelin, animal control officer for Medway and Millis, said that by early April she had picked up 10 raccoons that she believed were sick, an unusual number for early spring.

"I think we're going to see a huge amount of rabies this year," she said. "It's out there all the time, but every few years it blows up."

According to the state Department of Public Health, Medway had already requested five rabies tests on animals earlier this month, compared with nine such tests requested by the town in all of last year.

Other towns in the area -- Franklin, Millis, Wrentham, and Norfolk -- have each requested two tests so far this year.

Cindy Souza and Tracey Holmes, animal control officers for Franklin and Bellingham, said they have seen an increase in calls for suspected rabid animals.

Rabies is a contagious and potentially fatal neurological disease that can be passed from animals to people through a bite or scratch. Souza said there have been many animals that were probably infected in her towns already this year, but not many cases of human contact.

Animals are not tested unless the animal control officer suspects contact with humans or their pets, Souza said. However, she is cautious.

"There are so many neighborhoods now and no habitat left, so we can't take a chance if the animal has been around people or kids," she said.

Sometimes rabies will pass from a wild animal to a house pet, and the pet will then infect people.

In late April a parent and child in Bellingham were scratched by an aggressive cat, and officials searched for it.

A homeowner cornered the animal a few days later and a police officer shot it. Tests confirmed that it carried rabies, and the residents who were scratched were required to get shots to counteract the disease's harmful effects.

Animals can carry rabies for 30 days while the disease travels through their bodies before they become contagious. The contagious period lasts about 10 days before the animal dies , said Michael Graf, Bellingham's health officer, but during that period it might be aggressive and pass the disease to many others.

"Things get absolutely bonkers here when it's hot," Graf said of the wildlife-related health issues his office confronts in summer. Those also include reports of residents contracting tick-borne Lyme disease and mosquito-borne West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis.

Like a mosquito bite, people are likely to play down a bite or scratch from an animal, he said. That worries public health officials.

Local boards of health are reminding residents to avoid contact with wild animals and to keep pet food indoors because it might attract the animals.

"We try to make people aware of where their animals are and to keep kids away from animals," said Bill Fisher, Medway's health agent.

Alison O'Leary Murray can be reached at amurray@globe.com.