A raccoon in the Amityville area that tested positive for rabies earlier this month is the sixth raccoon in and around the area infected with the disease since January, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services said Monday.
The rabid raccoon, which was found May 10 in Amityville, had no contact with humans or pets, Dr. Gregson Pigott, commissioner of the health services department, announced in a news release Monday.
The latest rabies case follows five others in the area since Jan. 28, when the health department announced that a raccoon tested positive in North Amityville. Before that, Suffolk County had last reported a rabid raccoon in 2009, according to the release. Since the Jan. 28 case, and before yesterday’s case, raccoons have tested positive on March 4, March 22, April 4 and May 6.
In a statement, Pigott urged Suffolk residents of Amityville and neighboring areas to ensure their pets “are up to date on their rabies vaccinations.”
“I am concerned that the warmer weather could bring more interaction between wildlife and pets,” Pigott said. “We encourage residents in the southwestern part of Suffolk County to keep their pets close to them.”
Pigott advised Suffolk residents to refrain from feeding or interacting with strays as well as wild or unknown animals and keep livestock confined during the evening. Pets should also be kept inside at night, and those too young for the rabies vaccine should be supervised outdoors.
Each year, the Suffolk health department offers about four free rabies vaccination clinics for residents’ pets. Due to the rising number of cases in southwestern Suffolk, the department will add clinics, said spokesperson Grace Kelly-McGovern.
The Brookhaven Animal Shelter will host the next rabies vaccine clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 31, according to a news release. The vaccine will be available while supplies last. Owners must leash their dogs and bring cats and other pets in carriers.
In a telephone interview Monday, Pigott noted that the rabies outbreak migrated “from the west” through Nassau County and stayed to the south. Rabies “spreads very slowly,” Pigott added, and while cases could spread east “over time,” that is not likely in just a few months. The health services department plans to drop rabies vaccine bait to curb the Amityville outbreak in late August or early September.
“It’s a slow spreading virus, so we don’t expect it to … blow up and be all over the place,” Pigott said. “We will have a scatter plot of where it’s spreading, so where to more densely bait . . . and then bait other areas.”
