Forum discusses dangers of rabies

Marcy J. Souza of the UT College of Veterinary Medicine warned against feeding raccoons that may carry the rabies virus at the UT Science Forum on Friday.

People often feed stray or outdoor animals that come into their yards. However, in her lecture “STOP! Don’t Feed that Raccoon!” Souza said some zoonotic infections that raccoons can carry include rabies and roundworm.

Rabies has not been prevalent in Tennessee. The last case of a human with the disease was 2002, and the disease was transmitted by a bat. Unfortunately, when a human gets the virus it is almost always fatal and includes hallucinations and behavioral changes before death.

“Ringworms usually live in the intestines of raccoons, and the eggs are shed in the feces,” Souza said.

There have been a few cases of dogs shedding ringworm eggs, but that is very rare. Raboral VR-G is an oral recombinant vaccine that researchers give to raccoons. The team makes them fish and dog-flavored bait to attract the animals.

The infected eggs can be consumed by a raccoon or any animal that eats outside, especially near residential areas.

“This means that the disease can easily be passed to a household, then a baby, then to an adult, and so on,” Souza said.

The side effects in a child are mentally delayed as the parasite larvae travel to the neural, visceral and ocular regions.

The Southeast, historically, has low level of infections in raccoons as compared to the Midwest.

Souza said that what concerns people is that raccoons are starting to adapt to human settlement due to lack of predators, the increasing density of residential areas, and the increased development of wildlife habitat.

Souza warned not to feed any outside animals, even house pets, and recommended putting out bird feeders where no other animals could reach them, securing garbage bags, avoiding contact with wildlife, inspecting and disinfecting property where raccoons have defecated, and carefully watching children playing outside.