Posted on 05/31/2008 11:32:37 AM PDT by george76
Sixteen people who fed, kissed and held a baby raccoon on Hilton Head Island now are being treated by a physician after the animal tested positive for rabies.
There also are seven more people who might need vaccines to prevent them from contracting the disease
"Someone adopted a baby raccoon and passed it around to everyone they knew and kissed it on the lips," .
"There was a lot of affectionate handling, kissing it and feeding it. Part of that is it was three weeks old, and they inserted fingers into the raccoon's mouth. Saliva is one way that rabies spreads."
Boatwright said the baby raccoon did not show signs of the disease, but got sick Monday and had seizures. On Tuesday, a veterinarian euthanized the animal and sent it to DHEC, where it tested positive for rabies.
In most cases, Boatwright said, wild animals will not show signs of rabies, and people will not experience symptoms if they are exposed to the disease.
"Once you have a symptom, it has reached the brain and it is fatal,"
(Excerpt) Read more at islandpacket.com ...
South Carolina Ping
Add me to the list. / Remove me from the list.
Any FReeps out there ever been to this Hilton Head Island?
yes
Why does stuff like this always happen in SC?
Yup
It’s crawling with Northerners.
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
UPCOMING GRAPHIC MATERIAL MAY BE HARMFUL OR DISTURBING TO SOME VIEWERS
I WARNED YOU!
Yes.
Yep. Pretty. Nice. Mucho expensive.
Yikes!!!! Do I need to get rabies shots after seeing that dog’s picture???
A graphic reminder of the danger that the furry plague poses.
“Leave her aloneeeeeee” re: Brittany!
I’d rather kiss the raccoon!!
This is just proof that some people you can educate, but you just can’t fix “stupid”.
BTW as of last week, this fiasco of stupidity has cost the state $43,000.
On the bright side, business is good for nuisance trappers.
The pernicious legacy of Walt Disney strikes again.
Coons and skunks are natural carriers of rabies. Any country person knows that, but apparently not these jewels of glittering ignorance.
I think you answered yourself in your next post about HH.
Whew, I’ll bet you’re glad for that self control now!
That’s probably what Tipper was thinking...
The people I know that live there are transplants from NYC....oh yeah, they’re Obama supporters who voted for McCain.
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