- October 25, 2024
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The Flagler Humane Society is seeing rising numbers of raccoons with suspected canine distemper, a viral disease that affects multiple organ species and is often fatal. The disease causes abnormal behavior, and locals who report it to Animal Control often mistake it for rabies.
"If anybody calls and says there’s a sick one or an injured [raccoon], we will respond, and the calls are definitely up," Flagler Humane Society executive director Amy Wade-Carotenuto said. "[The animals] end up coming to us. When they’re sick like that, we really don’t have any choice but to euthanize them."
Over the last two months, the Flagler Humane Society has euthanized 18 sick raccoons — 15 in January, and three in December, Wade-Carotenuto said. There had been no raccoons euthanized in January of 2021 or December of 2020.
The Flagler County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 25 posted on its Facebook page that the FCSO's Agriculture Unit has seen more sick raccoons around the county, and that locals who encounter one should keep their distance and contact Animal Control or the FCSO's non-emergency line.
The Sheriff's Office, using a grant through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, tested several sick raccoons during a previous outbreak; all came back with canine distemper, not rabies, according to an FCSO spokeswoman.
People should keep their distance from wild animals and should not feed wildlife, Wade-Carotenuto said. Keep your pet's food inside: Food for dogs or cats can also attract infected raccoons that could contaminate the food or bowl, passing the virus to other wild animals or to pets.
Simply seeing a raccoon during daytime isn't in itself cause for concern, and the Flagler Humane Society doesn't respond to regular nuisance wildlife calls, Wade-Carotenuto added.
Canine distemper is transmitted through contact with an infected animal or its waste or bodily secretions, including saliva, and tends to appear in five-to-seven-year cycles, according of a summary of the disease on the Tennessee state government's Wildlife Resources Agency webpage.
It can affect many mammals, including dogs, though standard vaccine courses for dogs generally include the distemper vaccine. Canine distemper is not known to pose a direct threat to humans.
Symptoms include watery discharge or a crusty buildup around the eyes and nose, hardened footpads, coughing and sneezing, diarrhea, confusion, stumbling, aggression, aimless wandering, fits of chewing, convulsions and paralysis, according to the Tennessee WRA webpage. The disease can cause permanent neurological damage in animals that survive it.
Bites or scratches from a sick raccoon or other wild animal should still be treated as if the animal may potentially have rabies, and should be reported to a doctor immediately for evaluation and potential post-exposure rabies vaccination. (To work, post-exposure rabies vaccines must be administered before any symptoms appear, and are now administered in the arm like tetanus shots. Without vaccination, rabies is almost always fatal).
Palm Coast residents can report a sick raccoon to Animal Control at 386-986-2520. Other Flagler County residents can call the Flagler Humane Society at 386-246-8612. To report a sick raccoon during non-business hours, call the Sheriff's Office's non-emergency line at 386-313-4911.
