An increased number of rabies cases among wild raccoons has
recently been reported from the mid-Atlantic states (Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia) (Table 2). The disease is
primarily concentrated in an eight-county area encompassing
northern
Virginia, western Maryland, and southcentral Pennsylvania (Table
3).
One case has also been reported in Washington, D.C.
A single raccoon from eastern West Virginia was reported rabid
in
1977--the first case in the area. Rabid raccoons were reported
from
contiguous counties in Virginia and West Virginia during 1978-1980;
since then, the outbreak has grown to encompass several adjacent
counties in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Between January 1 and
October
15, 1982, 432 rabid raccoons had been reported from Virginia, 35
from
Maryland, 23 from Pennsylvania, and 15 from West Virginia. Rabies
among dogs and cats has also been reported. The first case of
rabies
in a raccoon in Washington, D. C., was reported on October 27,
1982.
Within the raccoon-outbreak area, rabid skunks, bats, and foxes
have
been reported during the last 12 months (Table 4).
Reported by E Israel, MD, State Epidemiologist, Maryland State Dept
of
Health and Mental Hygiene; CW Hays, MD, State Epidemiologist,
Pennsylvania State Dept of Health; GB Miller, Jr, MD, State
Epidemiologist, Virginia State Dept of Health; LE Haddy, MS, State
Epidemiologist, West Virginia State Dept of Health; ME Levy, MD,
State
Epidemiologist, District of Columbia Dept of Human Svcs; Viral and
Rickettsial Zoonoses Br, Div of Viral Diseases, Center for
Infectious
Diseases, CDC.
Editorial Note
Editorial Note: The pattern of rabies among raccoons in the
mid-Atlantic states represents a significant departure from the
pattern seen in the United States during the last 10 years. In
most
of the country, raccoon rabies occurs as sporadic, isolated cases.
However, in the southeastern states--Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and
South Carolina--raccoons are the major rabies reservoir, and
raccoon
rabies occurs as an enzootic or epizootic disease. As recently as
1980, 90% of all raccoon rabies in the United States was reported
from
these four states; Georgia alone reported 208 cases (53% of the
total
that year). So far in 1982, Virginia has reported 62% of all
raccoon
rabies in the United States. Thus, in a two-year span, Virginia
has
reported a
60-fold increase in raccoon rabies.
Local, state, and federal health agencies are cooperating to
study
the spread of the outbreak by intensifying rabies surveillance
activities in the affected areas. Health agencies are also
cooperating to educate the public to the risk of exposure to wild
animals in rabies-affected areas, to the necessity for keeping
rabies
immunizations for pet dogs and cats current, and to the importance
of
seeking medical attention if bitten or exposed to wild animals.
There is no known technique for effectively eliminating rabies
in
wildlife, but research concerning the understanding and control of
the
disease in wild animal populations is underway. No human rabies
case
has ever been known to result from a raccoon bite.
Disclaimer
All MMWR HTML documents published before January 1993 are electronic conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.
