CHIMACUM — A pet cat from the Chimacum area has been found with rabies, the first time the disease has been recorded in a Washington state feline since 2002.
Jefferson County Public Health received results of testing Tuesday, according to Dr. Tom Locke, county public health officer.
The cat’s owner, a veterinarian technician and a few others who came into contact with the cat are undergoing treatment for rabies now, according to Locke, who did not know how many are being given the shots.
The cat — a 2-year-old female from the Gibbs Lake area — had shown uncharacteristic aggression and had bitten her owner last week, Locke said Thursday.
The cat was taken to the Jefferson County Humane Society shelter for observation and then to the Chimacum Valley Veterinary Hospital after she began to show signs of rabies, Locke said.
Once the symptoms were confirmed, the cat was euthanized and samples of brain tissue were sent to the Washington State Public Health Lab in Shoreline.
The animal’s name, breed and exact location were being withheld to preserve the privacy of the pet owner, Locke said.
Rabies had been reported only in bats on the North Olympic Peninsula until now. A rabid bat was found in Clallam County this year, public health officials said, and another in Jefferson County in 2014.
On Wednesday, Lisa McKenzie, the county’s communicable disease program coordinator, sent an email to area veterinarians alerting them to the rabies report.
In the email, McKenzie said the cat had an uncertain vaccination history.
“We are working on identifying all possibly exposed persons, helping them identify true exposures and getting individuals who were exposed in for rabies prophylaxis through Jefferson Healthcare,” McKenzie wrote.
Locke said the disease was most likely acquired from a bat that the cat may have killed or eaten.
He said cat rabies is rare in Washington state, with the most recent case in 2002; there have been no reports of rabid dogs since the 1950s.
“It surprises me that we don’t see more rabid cats,” Locke said.
“Cats regard bats as their prey, and bats are the most common source of rabies.”
Less than 1 percent of bats in the state are thought to carry the rabies virus, health officials said.
Untreated rabies is fatal to any animal contracting the disease, and it results in severe neurological damage or death for humans who become infected.
The incubation period in people ranges from weeks to years after a bite from a rabid animal, but its effects can be reversed with immediate treatment after suspected contact.
Locke said rabies is “100 percent preventable” through vaccination. If a vaccinated cat eats an infected bat, it will not catch the disease.
Any animal suspected of having rabies should be quarantined for 10 days.
If signs of the disease are observed in that time, the animal will be euthanized and its brain tissue sampled, Locke said.
If a possibly rabid animal dies, its head should be preserved and kept for analysis, Locke said.
According to the Washington state guidelines for human rabies prevention, “rabies exposures include bites, scratches, fresh wounds or mucous membranes contaminated with a mammal’s saliva or neural tissue.
“Touching animal fur, blood, urine or feces is not a rabies exposure,” the state said. “Exposures to bats deserve special consideration.”
To report a suspected case of rabies, phone 360-385-9400 in Jefferson County or 360-417-2274 in Clallam County.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
