The Hockley County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a confirmed case of rabies in Hockley County December 31, 2022, related to a wild animal that was tested recently.
The animal was located in Precinct 1 of Hockley County, near the Ropesville area.
The animal was turned over to be tested, and the state confirmed the positive rabies test. There have been no reports of human contact or exposure.
Additionally, there have been no other reports of potentially infected domestic pets, livestock, or wild animals.
A press release from the sheriff’s office encourages residents to watch for signs or symptoms and if anyone believes to see one that is exposed or exhibiting signs, do not approach the animal.
Contact a local animal control agency and provide them with as much information as possible about the animal including description, location, and any aggressive or strange behavior.
According to the Department of State Health Services website, signs of rabies include the following: Animals that have a change in behavior.
Wild animals which seem to be friendly or tame.
Wild animals, coyotes, foxes, bats, skunks and racoons, which are not usually seen in the daytime.
Animals that have a hard time walking, eating or drinking. Excitement or meanness in animals. Animals that bite or scratch at an old wound until it bleeds.
If bitten, immediately and thoroughly clean the infected area and visit a doctor as soon as possible.
For those unfamiliar with rabies, the DSHS website states the condition is a virus disease of the central nervous system. It can be transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal, or through the saliva of a rabid animal being introduced into a fresh scratch or similar skin break, and rarely by other routes. Saliva in contact with unbroken skin, or even on a scratch wound over 24 hours old, one where a scab has formed, usually will not require anti-rabies treatment.
A common path of distribution for rabies is for a rabid skunk or fox to bite and infect one or more dogs or cats during a fearless invasion into a community.
The disease develops in the domestic animals along with the threat of their transferring the infection to other pets and perhaps humans. Children because of their closer association with the pets are most often the human victims.
This rapid spread is possible only in unvaccinated pets. If an infected fox or skunk gets into a barnyard, it may bite and infect the farm dog, cat or other livestock.
As a matter of interest, a fox can be 20 times as serious a distributing agent as a skunk since it travels faster and farther; skunks, however, have more rabies virus in their saliva.
The owned dog or cat does not need to be euthanized (humanely killed) until the first clinical sign of rabies appears.
If the dog or cat was infective at the time of the bite, signs of rabies in the animal will usually follow rather quickly and certainly within 10 days. Rabid dogs and cats usually show a change in behavior, with excitability or paralysis, followed by death.
However, the biting animal can be euthanized immediately.
Rabies cases reported for the Hockley County have been scarce according to the DSHS website. Keep track of the reported cases for confirmed rabies cases, the most recent were in 2021, with one confirmed cat and on racoon case.