Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 14 · column 6 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
Though any warm-blooded animal can contract rabies, it remains most common in wild animals whose habit is to live in family situations — such as the racoon, the skunk, the bat, or the fox. Cases of rabies in rabbits, squirrels, opossums, rats and mice are rare, according to state epidemiologists.
Rabies is a virus which attacks the nervous system and finally the brain of warm blooded animals. Infected animals often appear docile and almost domestic, even when naturally wild. The virus destroys the nervous system and the brain, in the late stages causing the animal to react wildly and irrationally.
If not treated it is invariably fatal.
The domestic animal is usually near death — which occurs within five to 10 days after the attack — when it finally lashes out and attacks another animal, Dr. Bums said. But some animals, the racoon, ferret or skunk, are carriers and can “harbor the disease for years” and not die after attacking either a human or another animal — either domestic or wild. Hence, the disease lives on.
“If you’ve been in contact with a wild animal” that has bitten or scratched you, “you have the potential” to develop the disease and should see a doctor immediately, the doctor recommended.
“If you suspect the animal has rabies,” Game Warden Bankston said, “do not beat it around the head or shoot it in the head as the brain is needed” to test and confirm the disease is present.
“If the animal is acting strangely, unafraid or persistent,” Warden Bankston said, “get in touch with the Sheriffs Office.” He said killing the animal is not recommended as “it is a violation of law to kill certain animals”
94.7%