To vaccinate your pet against rabies at the BBAHC Environmental Health Department, call 907-842-3396. To avoid attracting wild animals, clear trash, food and pet food from outdoor areas.
Early in the morning of April 27, the owners of a house on Wood River Road heard a commotion coming from the entrance.
“They found a fox in their arctic entryway with two other dogs," said Dan Boyd, the animal control officer in Dillingham. "The owner was able to kill the fox, and then called dispatch at around 8:00 in the morning to report it.”
It’s unusual for a fox to enter an area with dogs, so Boyd contacted the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation's Department of Environmental Health, and they decided to send the carcass to Fairbanks to get tested for rabies.
A few days later, on May 1, a family was looking out their kitchen window when they saw a fox approaching their dog outside.
“One of the individuals that live in the house came driving into the driveway, and the fox left the property, went across the street, and as soon as the gentleman got out of his truck and went in the house, the fox came back across the street,” Boyd said.
One of the residents shot and killed the fox and contacted Animal Control. They sent that carcass to Fairbanks, where it tested positive for rabies, too.
Rabies spreads when saliva from an infected animal contacts the broken skin, eyes, or mouth of another animal or person.
None of the dogs that encountered the foxes were bitten. If a pet that may have been exposed to rabies bites a person, it has to quarantine for 10 days. If a vaccinated pet is bitten by a rabid animal, it has to quarantine for 45 days, and if it hasn't been vaccinated, it has to either be euthanized or quarantine for 180 days.
The disease is always present at low levels in fox populations in western Alaska, but outbreaks in Dillingham are uncommon — Boyd said these are the first confirmed cases of rabies since 2009. Cases have recently been discovered in other areas of southwestern Alaska; in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta three rabid foxes and one rabid dog were reported in late April.
Bryan Reiley, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Dillingham, said people should be cautious of wild animals that are not afraid of humans.
“The best way I can describe it is a fox not acting like a fox," he said. "A normal fox is hunting, it has a purpose, it’s searching for food — almost always. It’s observing. If you are near it, it’s very aware of your presence, it wants to actively get away from you. A fox with rabies is not doing those things.”
Other signs of rabies include drooling, staggering, tremors, uncoordinated movements, and nipping or biting.
Reiley said it’s important to take carcasses to Fish and Game in Dillingham, or dispose of it properly.
“We would like to collect the head, so we can get the rabies tests done," Reiley said. "If the animal has rabies and another animal eats that carcass or scavanges it, then that’s a potential source of transmission of rabies, so we want to not leave those carcasses lying around anywhere.”
If you are bitten by any animal, get medical help immediately.
Prevent the spread of rabies:
- Don’t leave trash or food out, unless its in a secured container
- Don't leave pet food outside overnight
- Vaccinate your pets against rabies
If you see an animal acting abnormally, contact:
- Dillingham Police Department: 907-842-5354
- BBAHC Department of Environmental Health: 907-842-3396
- Sate wildlife troopers: 907-842-5351
To get your pets vaccinated:
- Rabies vaccination clinic from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 8, at the Dillingham Animal Shelter by the small boat harbor.
- BBAHC Environmental Health Department: 907-842-3396.
Contact the author at izzy@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.
