Rabies cases are rare, difficult to track

Noise rose from the chicken coop again, and George Baumbach watched his son run toward their animals. Inside, they found a skunk drooling so much it looked like foam and shaking its head as it attacked their chickens.

Baumbach is used to animals seeking out the chickens at his Kalispell home. There’s been four dog attacks, multiple skunks and even several owls. But each time, the animal would just catch a chicken, drag it out of the house and run off at the sound of noise, he said.

But when Baumbach peered into his coop on July 16, he thought “rabies.”

“I knew it right away,” he said.

He looked at getting the skunk tested to backup his conclusion. But then he learned he would have to go to a veterinarian to get the animal prepared to be sent to the state’s test lab in Bozeman. Then, he would have to pay a little more than $30 for the test and to dispose of the remains.

So, now the skunk is buried 4 feet deep on his property along with his 11 chickens that were attacked.

Tahnee Szymanski, assistant state veterinarian with the Department of Livestock, said because not everyone reports or tests animals they think have rabies, it’s hard to know how many cases exist in the state.

“I’d be very skeptical without test results because there are such isolated incidents in Western Montana,” Szymanski said.

From 2011 through 2016, Flathead County had nine confirmed cases of rabies, all from bats.

So far in 2017, there’s been two confirmed cases of rabies statewide, both among bats. One case came from Lincoln and the other in Missoula.

Szymanski said roughly once a month, her office gets calls from someone describing an animal they think had rabies, but they opt out of getting it tested.

Dr. Katie Sherrill with Central Valley Animal Hospital in Kalispell said she hasn’t seen terrestrial rabies in the valley recently — meaning cases like skunks, porcupines and raccoons.

But she said there’s concern that people aren’t reporting animals they see showing signs of rabies.

“There’s an importance in reporting unusual animal behavior so we can make sure if there are more cases of rabies, we can get them identified and have a better knowledge of what the risk actually is,” Sherrill said.

Szymanski said while the virus can be deadly if transmitted to humans, it’s not common. She said one of the best steps people can take to stay safe is to get their pets vaccinated so their cat or dog doesn’t bring home the virus.

“They create the safety barrier between wildlife and us,” she said.

Rabies in the U.S. has changed as people have gotten better at creating a buffer between themselves and possible infections.

Before 1960, the majority of rabies cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control were in domestic animals. Now, more than 90 percent of all cases reported each year to the center occur in wildlife.

Szymanski said other than staying up-to-date on vaccinations, people should know their resources if they’re concerned whether a local animal is showing symptoms.

“They always have the Department of Livestock, their local veterinarians and their county public health nurse,” she said.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.