BRUNSWICK — Town officials are advising residents to avoid wild animals, especially if the animals are acting strangely, and to not leave pets or children outside unsupervised following the fourth incident involving a rabid fox over the past three weeks.

Brunswick Animal Control Officer Heidi Nelson received confirmation from the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention late Monday that a fox killed by a man on Bouchard Drive last week was rabid. She talked to officials at the Maine CDC on Tuesday morning, and they urged the town distribute informational flyers to residents.

Town officials, however, wanted to quickly reach as many people as possible, so they opted to issue a press release and a Code Red alert, the latter sent using the E911 system Tuesday to landline phones in Brunswick.

The statement issued by Brunswick Police Cmdr. Mark M. Waltz advised those who encounter animal acting strangely to go inside and call 911. He also urged residents to make sure all animals that can be vaccinated are current on their rabies shots.

Waltz called the rabies cases an “epidemic,” but a spokeswoman for the Maine CDC cautioned against characterizing the incidents that way.

“I know that the word ‘epidemic’ has been floating around out there, and we would say it’s a high number of cases given the time period and geographic area, but it’s not an ‘epidemic,’” Emily Spencer said. “Maybe a ‘cluster’ would be a more appropriate word.”

There has not been a case of human rabies since 1937, Spencer said.

The latest encounter involving a rabid fox occurred Friday, when Brandon Radzilowski was helping to build a patio at his sister’s house on Bouchard Drive and noticed a fox in the backyard.

“At first, I thought it might have been OK because it was just playing with a ball, and I’ve seen videos of foxes playing with kids’ toys in yards before,” said Radzilowski, who was visiting from Maryland.

But his sister had warned him there recently had been multiple cases of rabid wildlife in Brunswick, so he kept an eye on it.

“I came outside and he kind of ran in the woods a little bit,” Radzilowski said. “I started working and I noticed he was over in the neighbor’s yard kind of stalking their cat.” 

The cat entered the neighbor’s home through a cat door, and Radzilowski said he was concerned the fox might follow. As he approached, the animal ducked under the deck. But once Radzilowski was on the deck, the fox reemerged and became aggressive.

“When it started coming at me, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m not taking that chance.’ Its mouth was wide open and it was briskly coming right at me,” Radzilowski said. “So I picked the shovel up and whacked it. It flew a couple feet and landed on the side of his yard.”

Radzilowski said he then delivered another blow to put the animal out of its misery. He never came into physical contact with the fox.

“I felt bad to kill it,” said Radzilowski, who was relieved when he learned the animal tested positive for rabies.

Nelson, the animal control officer, said she waited to get the test results before notifying the public of the incident.

“We don’t want to cause mass hysteria where everyone wants to go get out a shotgun and shoot animals on their property,” she said.

It was already starting to happen Tuesday, when police said they had received calls from residents asking if they should shoot animals they saw on their properties. Nelson reiterated that people should go inside and call 911. The CDC also said it was not going to test animals that had not had contact with humans or pets.

The main carriers of rabies are foxes, raccoons, skunks and bats, but animals are out and about this time of year, just like people, Nelson said, and just because they are out during the day does not mean they are rabid. 

The red flag is aggression. Generally, wild animals will not interact with humans unless threatened.

“What we’re looking for is the fox or animal being the aggressor, seeing us and chasing after us,” Nelson said. “They’ll be attacking cars, will bite a tire. Skunks will stand and start circling like they’re dizzy.”

And just because an animal looks mangy does not mean it is infected. Foxes are susceptible to mange and will pluck out their fur.

Nelson said two scenarios involving the rabid animals could play out: Town residents could continue to see rabid animals for an extended period, or the infected animals will wander off and die without exposing other animals.

Fortunately, the window during which an animal with the rabies virus can infect another animal or a human before it succumbs to the disease is only about 10 days. The virus needs the host alive to survive. 

Anyone who encounters a possibly rabid animal and cannot get inside or somewhere safe should “try to grab anything you can to put between you and that animal. A lawn chair, whatever. Get something between you and get to safety.”

The recent uptick in rabies incidents spurred The Veterinarian Clinic on Maine Street in Brunswick to urge its customers through social media to make sure their animals’ rabies shots are current.

“My basic concern is just making sure that all animals are vaccinated, and that’s what’s going to protect them,” said Dr. Erica Partham of The Veterinary Clinic.

Maine law requires that cats and dogs be vaccinated for rabies.

While some people think indoor cats do not need the vaccinations, they are still in danger of exposure to rabies. Wild animals carrying the virus, such as a small bat, can enter a house without homeowners being aware and their tiny teeth means their bites can go undetected, Partham said.

To help address a public safety issue, The Veterinary Clinic will accept walk-ins for rabies vaccinations.

Raccoons lead the rabies pack

There have been 33 confirmed cases of rabies in animals so far this year in Maine, according to the Maine CDC. Six cases were confirmed in Cumberland County, and there have been eight confirmed cases in Piscataquis County. Nearly all of the animals with rabies were raccoons.

Last year, there were 67 cases of rabies in Maine, including two in Brunswick, according to the CDC.

Those cases have not been limited to rural areas. On June 13, a woman on High Street in Brunswick let her dog outside, where it got into a fight with a skunk that later tested positive for rabies.

Later that week, a rabid fox attacked a Brunswick woman who was retrieving her mail. The fox then bit a neighbor who tried to help her. Both residents were treated at Mid Coast Hospital and the fox was shot by a police officer.

The woman, 72-year-old Barbara Senecal, later said the fox “looked vicious” as it knocked her off her feet and bit her on the legs and arm.

On June 25, a 95-year-old man was repairing the deck on his home on Breckan Road when a fox approached him. Robert Galen used a broken plank to club the fox, which later tested positive for rabies.

“I’d been aware of the rabies incidents in Brunswick, so I almost instinctively hit this animal on the head with the club I had, fortunately, in my hand,” Galen said.

There also have been rabies cases reported outside Brunswick.

James Ross of Lisbon used a meat cleaver to kill a fox that had entered his kitchen after he left the doors to his house open last month. 

And in Rockland, a South Carolina woman was bitten last week by a rabid river otter that ran onto a beach and chased people. Laurie Nevins, who was visiting Maine for vacation, captured the attack on video. The otter was shot by police so it could be tested for rabies.

“It does seem like right now you’re experiencing an uptick in the number in a compressed time frame, but in the United States and in Maine you’re basically living in a sea of rabies,” said Richard Chipman of Brunswick, coordinator of the Wildlife Service’s National Rabies Management Program.

About 92 percent of the 5,000 to 6,000 rabies cases in the United States each year involve wildlife. The rest affect domestic animals.

“Generally, we don’t have a lot of cases where we have wildlife attacking people,” he said.

Despite the uptick in animals testing positive for rabies in Brunswick, Chipman said people should continue with what they are doing.

“I would certainly not hit the panic button,” he said. “We do the same things that we would do normally. Enjoy wildlife from a healthy distance.”

This level of rabies incidents is not likely to continue over the next month or two.

“It’s not like once you start having a lot of rabies in the population, those individual animals are going to stay in the landscape all summer being sick and spreading rabies and being aggressive,” he said. “They’re not going to be in and around for very long once they start showing signs.”

Brunswick Town Manager John Eldridge said the best thing the town can do is get the word out to residents.

“I think vigilance is the key right now for people,” he said.

Barbara Senecal, 72, of Brunswick stands Tuesday near the spot where she was attacked by a rabid fox on June 17. With the bite wounds on her ankles and claw marks on her hands finally healing, she says, “I just really hope people will be careful walking around outside.” (Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald)

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