Rabid Fox Captured only 2 miles from my location Tuesday

[Stormsfury]

Man wins fight against rabid fox, has to get series of shots anyway
BY LYNNE LANGLEY
Of The Post and Courier Staff

Brian Hunstad's neighbor stopped by Friday to tell him about a strange dog in the yard between their Summerville houses.

That's no dog, Hunstad realized.

It was a fox, rolling on its back and lazing in the grass at 2 p.m. in the middle of a subdivision, Summerville Place.

Hunstad, who knows foxes are secretive and nocturnal, immediately suspected the animal was rabid.

He knew the school bus carrying his 6-year-old daughter was due soon. So the two men decided to wait in the yard and keep an eye on the gray fox, which was lying quietly in the sun just 6 feet away.

After half an hour, Hunstad said, "It snapped. It became violent and came at me."

Hunstad ran backward, dodging left and right. The fox stopped at each dodge then charged again.

When Hunstad tripped and fell, the fox attacked and grabbed the leg of his cargo pants. He scissored his other leg over the shoulders of the fox, which weighed maybe 25 or 30 pounds.

"I sat up and grabbed the nape of its neck. All I was concerned about was it biting me."

He got to his feet, and the fox kept charging.

"It used a little shock and awe on me," Hunstad said.

"I stood my ground." He kicked the fox in the nose with his steel-toed shoe. "I'd spin it around. At first it was tenacious.

"I kicked it upside the head and put it back about 6 feet, head over heels. It yelped a few times."

The fox kept attacking but finally went down and stayed down.

Hunstad had called for assistance when he first saw the fox, but no one had responded.

This time he called 911. Dorchester County Animal Control arrived right away, just as the fox was regaining its wits and as daughter Josephine, whom he had stashed safely in his neighbor's car, watched in awe.

The animal control officer slipped a noose over the furry neck and took the fox away for rabies testing at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control lab in Columbia.

Hunstad and his wife got the call Saturday: positive.

"Do I have to get the shots?" he asked. He had no sign of a bite or scratch but knew he contacted saliva, full of the virus.

"Rabies is fatal to humans and animals," said Sue Ferguson of the DHEC Bureau of Environmental Health.

"Anyone bitten, scratched or otherwise exposed to the saliva of a rabid animal must undergo immediate medical treatment to prevent the virus from reaching the brain," Ferguson said.

"Rabies is 100 percent fatal," Hunstad said. "Once you exhibit symptoms, it's over."

DHEC called again Monday to say they were delivering anti-rabies medicine to his doctor. Hunstad, who is a contractor, got a series of six shots that afternoon and has a month's worth of shots to go. "They sure didn't feel good," he said.

The fox is the first rabid animal confirmed in Dorchester County this year, said Robert Anderson, environmental health manager for the Dorchester County Health Department. Last year the county recorded a rabid bat.

South Carolina had 162 confirmed cases of rabies in animals last year.

"Be aware of any stray animals in your area. Make sure your dogs and cats are vaccinated," Anderson advised. State law requires that all pets be vaccinated against rabies.

About 400 South Carolinians have to undergo preventive treatment for rabies every year after being bitten by an animal known or suspected to be rabid.

[azsnowman]

WOW! Rabies seems to be on the increase every where these days!

Dennis