Though Bath has seen three cases of rabies in wildlife this summer, officials say there is no reason for residents to be alarmed.
The midcoast city saw an outbreak of rabies among wildlife in 2019, with 16 animals testing positive for the virus that year. The city partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to trap, euthanize and test animals to curb the spread of the disease.
The entire state of Maine saw 66 cases of rabies in animals in 2023. Bath last registered a rabies case in 2020, and it was in a gray fox. Aside from that and the outbreak the year before, the city has only seen three other cases of rabies going back to 2015.
The reason that rabies may seem more common in Bath is because of the way the city is developed, said Scott Lindsay, a biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. It’s a population center surrounded by wooded areas that many animals call home, so the likelihood of people bumping into the wildlife is higher.
“There’s ample opportunity for a species which is very, very adept at exploiting those habitats to live in there. And they’re going to be more likely to come in contact with people, because those neighborhoods are right alongside those little wooded areas,” Lindsay said.
The virus is unpredictable, so it’s hard to prevent it in wildlife populations, Lindsay said. This time of year, it’s easily transmissible between animals, especially gray foxes, because two parent foxes will live in dens with their kits. If one gets the virus, it can spread it to its family.
Rabies can stay dormant in a mammal’s body for weeks, months or even a year, because the virus must travel to the nervous system from the entry point. By the time an infected animal shows symptoms, it is 100 percent fatal. The animal will live a few weeks at most once sick.
Lindsay stressed that the vast majority of foxes and other wildlife are healthy. Foxes provide an important role to the ecosystem, curbing populations of small animals and rodents.
“A small, little tick can probably do you more damage than a fox ever will,” Lindsay said.
It’s still good to stay vigilant, he added. Keep pets up to date on rabies vaccines, make sure to keep an eye out when walking near brush or the woods at night, and maybe even carry a stick or rock to throw or push away an aggressive animal if one does attack.
To prevent close contact with animals near one’s home, you can secure trash and compost and take away bird feeders. They can either draw animals that carry rabies, like raccoons, or draw prey for rabid animals.
If a person comes into contact with a wild animal, it is important to get a rabies vaccination. Rabies can be transmitted through a bite, scratch or lick, or from coming into contact with nervous tissue from an infected animal.
“Fox, coyotes, they are part of our landscape here. They’re not going anywhere. They’re very well adapted to living amongst people,” Lindsay said. “And for the vast majority of the time, they’re going to do you no harm.”
