Sagamore Beach Man Bitten By Rabid Cat

     A Lathrop Road man bitten by a neighbor’s cat is now being treated for rabies, Bourne Heath Agent Cynthia A. Coffin said.
     The town’s involvement in the incident began on April 23 when the Cape Cod Urgent Care Center sent the legally required form to the Bourne Department of Natural Resources, saying that they had treated an animal bite.
     That fax detailed that a Sagamore Beach man, whose mother had been feeding the cat, was bitten on his right hand on April 21.
     In the meantime, the cat was obviously ill, so it was taken to a veterinarian, where it died on the table, said DNR Director Timothy Mullen. The cat had showed the symptoms of some clearly identifiable diseases, such as pneumonia, and it was released for burial without testing.
     The bitten man had started the rabies protocol in the emergency room and his family’s three pet cats, who luckily were up to date on all of their rabies vaccinations, received booster shots, and were quarantined, as required by law.
     However, the town still had some legal requirements to pursue.
     About 10 days previously, a skunk in the Lathrop Road area had been behaving strangely and was ultimately shot by a resident of the neighborhood. That skunk was confirmed as having rabies.
     Because rabies had been present in the neighborhood, it was clearly possible that the cat could have been rabid and should have been tested. Under the law, with no proof that the neighborhood cat had been immunized, it would have either been quarantined or, if no one wanted to pay for that quarantine, killed humanely and tested for rabies, Mr. Mullen said.
     Since it had already died, the cat should have been tested, he said. With the help of the Bourne Health Department, the cat was exhumed, tested, and found to be positive for rabies.
     As of this week, the woman who was feeding the neighbor’s cat out of the kindness of her heart, decided not to pursue the shots, having had little physical contact with the rabid animal.
     Ms. Coffin said at Wednesday’s board of health meeting that she urged the taking of the shots as a precaution, as did the state’s epidemiologist, who, Ms. Coffin said, also spoke with the woman.
     To ensure that the cost of the treatment was not a factor in the woman’s decision, the health department offered free shots. The woman declined. Board of health members asked Ms. Coffin to make the offer again, in writing.
     Two raccoons found in Sagamore Beach tested positive for rabies in December of last year and January of this year.
     Bourne residents are reminded to ensure that their pets are vaccinated and that no food is left outside where it could attract wild animals.
     Bourne residents who suspect that an animal might be rabid can call the Bourne Department of Natural Resources at 508-759-0621. Those with questions about rabies and its prevention, can call the health department at 508-759-0615.
     Faculty from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University will lead more than 100 volunteers, as well as  state, local, and federal public health officials, in a semiannual effort to distribute more than 50,000 rabies bait packets to vaccinate Cape Cod wildlife against the disease.
     The project will distribute the baits in 10 towns from Yarmouth to Provincetown beginning today, but no baiting is planned for the Upper Cape.
     Called the Cape Cod Oral Rabies Project, the effort began in Massachusetts in 1994. The Tufts group began baiting on the Cape after March of 2004, when health officials discovered a rabid raccoon in Bourne.
     Follow-up research studies by Tufts showed a dropoff in rabies cases from 75 to 5 in one year. According to the project, only five cases of rabies were confirmed on Cape Cod in 2007, down from 75 in 2006.
     The effort is supported by the US Department of Agriculture, which pays for half of the bait packets and collects dead wildlife for rabies surveillance.
     Project organizers could not be reached prior to press time to ask whether the instances of rabies in Sagamore Beach area, which lies north of the Cape Cod Canal, are being counted in their Cape Cod totals.