The Chemung County Health Department is seeking anyone who may have been bitten by a gray and white cat near Herrick Street, Franklin Street, and Jefferson Street, on Elmira’s southside on Wednesday, August 12.
The cat has not been seen since Thursday, August 13, but is presumed rabid because it was unusually aggressive.
Humans can get rabies from a bite, scratch, or contact with spit from a rabid animal. Rabies is a disease that is almost always fatal, unless it is treated before symptoms appear.
Treatment for rabies exposure in humans involves a series of four vaccinations administered over the course of two weeks as well as one dose of Rabies Immune Globulin. Symptoms of an animal actively shedding rabies include changes in behavior, including aggressiveness or unusual friendliness, staggering, convulsions, spitting, choking, frothing at the mouth, and hindquarter paralysis.
If you or your pet were bitten or scratched by a gray and white cat near Herrick St, Franklin St, and Jefferson St, on Elmira’s southside around August 12, please contact the Chemung County Health Department immediately at 607-737-2019 during business hours (or 607-737-2044 after hours) for evaluation. If exposure to the rabid cat did occur, treatment should begin quickly.
This case should serve as a reminder to avoid wild and unknown domestic animals and to ensure your pets have up-to-date rabies vaccinations at all times, once they reach four months of age.
