Wyoming town sees explosion of disease in animals: Keep your distance

Wyoming residents have been issued an urgent warning to keep their distance from wild animals - with 15 cases of rabies identified in skunks this year alone.

Skunks, bats and raccoons are the most common carriers of the disease, but health officials have warned people should always be vigilant around wild animals.

Getting bitten by a rabid animal can be a costly exercise, requiring several injections which can run into the thousands of dollars.

All 15 rabid skunks have been found in Sheridan County, according to data shared by the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory.

This is double the amount of cases found by this time last year.

Wyoming residents have been issued an urgent warning to keep a distance from wild animals - with 15 cases of rabies identified in skunks this year alone

A warning from Sheridan County reads: The Southeast/Southwest areas just outside of the City of Sheridan to the town of Big Horn are where most of these skunks are coming from. 

If you live in the area, please be advised of this and proceed cautiously when out and about.

Meanwhile, six bats have also tested positive for rabies, each from Carbon, Goshen, Laramie, Sheridan, Sweetwater, and Teton, Cowboy State Daily reported.

The data sample was a total of 426 examinations of skunks and bats. Last year, 526 bats and skunks were tested, finding 14 positive results in bats and six in skunks.

Kim Deti, from the Wyoming Department of Public Health, said exposure to rabies can cost someone their life, and should be treated seriously.  

It is deadly if someone develops symptoms, she said. 

A warning from Sheridan County (pictured) reads: The Southeast/Southwest areas just outside of the City of Sheridan to the town of Big Horn are where most of these skunks are coming from

Rabies impacts the central nervous system and is fatal. Early symptoms in humans include insomnia, confusion, anxiety and slight paralysis.

As the infection worsens, carriers will become agitated, suffer hyper salivation, have difficulty swallowing and suffer a fear of water. Data suggests victims usually die within days of the occurrence of symptoms.

Casper’s Rocky Mountain Infectious Disease doctor Mark Dowell told the publication of the first case of rabies he remembers in Wyoming.

He said an older woman woke up with a bat on her leg, but thought very little of it after her husband caught it and took it outside.

About six to 12 months later, he recalled that the woman started acting somewhat unusual neurologically and they thought she had dementia.

After the symptoms developed, her husband remembered the bat and the woman received a brain MRI, which indicated she had rabies.

Medical staff ran the test, they were positive and of course she expired, Dr. Dowell said.

While there are relatively few cases of rabies scares in the United States annually, people who report to healthcare professionals at the first sign of potential exposure are generally treated successfully.