RABIES ALERT LIFTED IN CAPE

A rabies alert for Cape Girardeau County was lifted this week, a county health official said Thursday.

But animal owners still need to make sure their pets are protected against the usually fatal disease by getting them vaccinated.

That was the message at Thursday's annual rabies clinic in Cape Girardeau.

The clinic, sponsored by area veterinarians, will continue from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. today at the 4-H Building in Arena Park.

Cost for vaccinations is $6 for dogs and cats. City licenses for dogs and cats also will be issued.

More than 800 animals were vaccinated against rabies at last year's clinic.

Rabies is rare in Cape Girardeau County, said Vicky McDowell, communicable-disease coordinator for the Cape Girardeau County Health Department.

"Last year we had the first two cases that we've had in 12 years," McDowell said. In April 1997, a rabid skunk was found near Millersville. Last November a kitten was found to be rabid in the Gordonville area.

Charles Stucker, a nuisance-abatement officer for Cape Girardeau, said the low incidence can be attributed to "programs like this, and people vaccinating their animals and taking care of them."

Stucker said that in Missouri rabies usually is carried by bats and skunks, both of which are nocturnal and rarely come into contact with dogs and cats. The disease sometimes also shows up in raccoons, Stucker said.

Stucker and his colleagues handle animal control for Cape Girardeau, and when a stray or sick wild animal is reported rabies is always a concern.

Wild animals are usually sent off immediately for testing to see if they carry the rabies virus.

"In domestic animals what we do is, whenever we have a human-animal bite involved, we observe the animal for 10 days," Stucker said. If the animal is rabid, the symptoms will show up within the 10-day observation period.

"The best thing to do is get your animals vaccinated against the rabies virus, and make sure they're not out around the wild animals that could have rabies," Stucker said.

Rabies is a virus that affects nerve tissue in all warm-blooded animals, including humans, and causes death by paralysis.

For the first time, the city is requiring cats to be licensed, and licenses can be purchased at the clinics. Fee for licenses is $3 for spayed or neutered dogs and cats and $15 for unaltered animals. There is a discount for senior citizens.

Licenses are also available at City Hall. Pet owners have to bring proof that the animal has been vaccinated against rabies and proof it has been spayed or neutered, if applicable.