By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — After a horse contracted rabies in Rowan County last month, health officials are urging owners of large animals to vaccinate them — and protect the humans around them.
“Get your animals vaccinated for rabies,” County Health Director Leonard Wood said. “It’s crazy not to. … People with horses, particularly — they’ve got a lot of value in those animals.”
A horse that was bought in Salisbury and trained in Rockwell died in Mecklenberg County on June 29 or 30. The horse became sick shortly after it left Rowan County, Wood said, so officials believe the animal became infected while it was still here.
Wood declined to say where exactly it was kept.
Dr. Andy Gardner, with Large Animal Medicine and Surgery in Salisbury, said this is the first time in more than 30 years in Rowan County that he’s seen a case of rabies in a horse.
“Within two or three days, the horse started showing weird signs,” Gardner said. “It was depressed and made some strange vocal sounds.”
After the horse died, testing showed that it was infected with rabies, which can make animals act lethargic or aggressive — or both. The fatal disease has no cure, and it can be transmitted to humans.
“It’s important for people to understand that they need to vaccinate their horses for rabies as soon as possible,” Gardner said. “If the horse gets it, you can get it… so the other reason to have the horse vaccinated is for your and your family’s safety.”
Many people don’t realize that horses, cattle, sheep and goats can get rabies, said Dr. Christina Law, a veterinarian medical officer with the N.C. Department of Agriculture.
“People think — a dog or a cat, those need to be vaccinated,” Law said. “But unfortunately, the way that we keep livestock makes them more susceptible.”
The most common carriers of rabies are bats, foxes, racoons and skunks. If a rabid wild animal gets into an enclosure with domestic animals, they have nowhere to go to avoid a bite.
Law said it’s safe to give rabies shots to livestock animals, but the state doesn’t advise farmers to do so because it’s expensive and impractical. What’s important, she said, is vaccinating companion animals that are in regular contact with humans.
Anyone who has handled an infected animal must get a series of post-exposure shots. Those are far more expensive than the annual vaccine, Law said, which typically costs around $20.
“I’ve heard people say, ‘We’ll save money and not do rabies shots this year,’” she said. “I tell them to remember that out of the core vaccines that vets give horses, rabies is the one disease we vaccinate for… that they can get directly from the horse.”
Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.
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