Residents must take care to avoid wild animals

MANALAPAN - Rabies is a disease everyone has heard of and has learned to dread. This summer has seen a higher than average occurrence of rabies in the tri-state area.

There were with 66 reported cases of rabid raccoons on Long Island, N.Y., and at least one confirmed rabid fox in Manalapan.

Manalapan health officer Dave Richardson said the recent reported sighting of a coyote on Iron Ore Road was not confirmed by officials, but he said the presence of the animal would not surprise him if it were true.

According to Richardson, coyotes have been an accepted member of New Jersey's ecosystem for a good number of years.

He said other than the incidents in Middletown earlier this year when a coyote accosted a toddler in a residential yard and numerous sightings of coyotes were reported in that community, there has been no appreciative risk posed by the animals who usually will not approach humans.

However, Richardson said, a fox that was found in woods on the south side of Manalapan had been brought back to a house party at which time the animal was passed around and petted by several children. It turned out the fox had rabies and several children and adults who attended the party had to undergo treatment for rabies.

Richardson said residents should never try to lure or handle any wild animal; that while such animals may appear to be cute, they can in fact prove to be deadly under the wrong circumstances.

The Nemours Foundation has an Internet Web site dedicated to children's health. Rabies information available on the Web site states that "although rabies infections in people are rare, they can cause serious health problems. So it's good to know how to recognize the signs of a bite by a rabid animal and what to do about it. Rabies is a virus that is usually transmitted by a bite from a wild infected animal such as a bat, raccoon, skunk or fox. If a rabid animal bite goes untreated, an infection can develop and lead to brain damage or even death."

According to the Nemours Foundation Web site, if the early warning signs of a rabies infection are recognized and medical help is immediately available, full recovery can be achieved.

According to the Web site, after being bitten by a rabid animal, a child may develop a fever, headache and general malaise. A twitching around the animal bite, a trademark symptom of rabies, may appear in addition to a fever above 105 degrees Fahrenheit, accompanied by agitation and possibly hallucinations.

Anyone who suspects his child has been bitten by a rabid animal, even if there are no immediate rabies symptoms, should take the child to a hospital emergency room immediately.

Any animal bites - even those that do not involve rabies - can lead to infections and other medical problems. As a precaution, parents may want to call their child's doctor any time their child has been bitten.