With warmer weather bringing people and animals out of winter hiding and potentially into contact with each other, local officials warn there are rabid animals in the area, including one that bit an Augusta woman in a heavily populated area of the city late last week.

A 73 year-old woman, whom authorities declined to identify, was bitten by a raccoon March 17 on Sewall Street in Augusta. The raccoon was found and killed, and it later tested positive for rabies.

The raccoon had been spotted throughout much of the city’s urban west side, including near the Buker Community Center, the Green Street area, and Capitol and Chapel streets.

“What is concerning, obviously, is the raccoon bit a human being; but it is also concerning that it was in such close proximity to businesses and schools and gatherings of people and animals, over a fairly large footprint,” Hillary Roberts, executive director of Kennebec Valley Humane Society, said of the rabid raccoon. “It’s a good reminder to make sure your pets are vaccinated and for people to not interact with wildlife.”

It was the first animal to test positive for rabies in Kennebec County in 2016, according to a state database. But several other wild animals have been spotted showing symptoms of the disease in recent weeks in central Maine, including in Augusta, Hallowell and Waterville, and areas including Winthrop and Sidney are known for frequent reports of rabid animals, according to local animal control officers.

John Martins, public health information officer and director of internal and program communications for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said May through September usually is the time of year when most of the state’s rabies cases occur, though the disease is reported throughout the year.

“Winter is over and more wild animals and people are much more likely to be out,” he said, explaining why the number of rabies cases is higher at that time of year.

After this year’s mild winter, then, it’s not surprising to see an uptick recently in the number of animals showing potential rabies symptoms, he said. “With the warmer weather, you get more people out walking their dogs and spending more time outside as temperatures warm up,” Roberts said.

As of March 15, eight animals — six raccoons and two skunks — have tested positive for rabies this year by the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory. In 2015, 28 animals tested positive for rabies.

Francois Roodman, Augusta’s animal control officer, said since the rabid skunk that bit the woman was discovered, police have located, caught and killed two other animals showing potential symptoms of rabies — a raccoon on Sunday on Howard Street and a skunk on Tuesday on Melville Street.

Roodman said both animals were showing symptoms of being rabid, with the raccoon being out in broad daylight, seemingly unafraid of people, and generally not looking healthy. The skunk was thin, missing lots of hair, had visible sores and acted erratically.

Chris Martinez, the animal control officer for Hallowell, Chelsea, Winthrop, Sidney, Waterville and Winslow, who also now is helping Monmouth and Clinton with animal problems, said he responded to catch, remove and, ultimately, kill two raccoons in the Western Avenue area that were mangy, out walking during the day and displaying other signs of rabies.

And Martinez said a mangy fox was reported in Hallowell a couple of weeks ago, acting lethargic and unafraid of people, and it was caught and killed.

“They were definitely showing symptoms. If they were tested, there is a good possibility they might have been rabid,” he said.

None of those animals was tested for rabies, because the protocol is generally not to test wild animals for the disease unless they have had contact with people or domestic animals.

Martinez said no animal has tested positive for rabies in his coverage area this year or last year.

Roodman said the woman bitten in Augusta was at a friend’s house on Sewall Street, in a parking lot when a raccoon attacked her.

“The raccoon charged at her and startled her so bad she fell off her feet and he bit her right in the leg,” he said.

He said he advised the woman, after the raccoon tested positive for rabies, to contact her primary care physician and the Maine Center for Disease Control. Information on her condition was not available from authorities.

In general, treatment for people bitten by a rabid animal is a combination of vaccine and immunoglobulin shots. The number and type of shots depends on the person’s health status and whether the person has been vaccinated for rabies in the past, according to a Maine Center for Disease Control rabies fact sheet.

If the attacking animal was captured and can either be confined and observed, or killed and tested for rabies, health care providers usually can wait for the outcome before deciding whether treatment is needed.

That’s one reason, Roodman said, it is important to contact animal control or a state game warden, if people or pets come into contact with a wild animal, so the officials can try to capture the animal and test it for rabies. If the wild animal is tested and doesn’t have rabies, then pets won’t have to be quarantined and people won’t have to be treated.

Officials emphasized the importance of getting pets vaccinated against rabies, because it is required by the law and because it is a good prevention method.

Rabies, which is spread by saliva of an infected animal, can be fatal. It is rare in humans.

Roberts said the protocol for people and pets exposed to a wild animal is similar. People who come into contact with a wild animal and suffer a wound should wash the wound for 10 or 15 minutes and contact their health care providers.

Pet owners whose animals come into contact with a wild animal also should wash the wound, then immediately contact a veterinarian.

Vaccinated cats and dogs that have been exposed to a rabid animal must be given a rabies vaccine booster and quarantined for 45 days for observation.

Unvaccinated cats and dogs exposed to a rabid animal, according to information from the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory, should be euthanized or vaccinated for rabies and quarantined in isolation for six months.

Roberts offered suggestions to help people protect themselves and their pets from rabies:

• Avoid all contact with wild animals.

• Keep pets up-to-date on rabies vaccinations.

• Teach children to avoid contact with wild animals.

• Never touch a dead animal.

• Do not keep food or water for your pets outside, because it can attract wild animals.

• Keep your garbage securely covered.

Keith Edwards — 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @kedwardskj

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