Irmo Police Asks Residents to Be Aware of Rabid Animals

The Irmo Police Department is asking the community to use caution when around wild animals and to be aware of the signs of a rabid animal after three cases have been reported since October. 

The most recent case was on Wednesday when a rabid fox was discovered in the Old Friarsgate neighborhood, Irmo Police Chief Brian Buck said. 

The first case was of a rabid raccoon on the grounds of the Irmo Municipal building near the Archer's Lane neighborhood in October 2012. The second instance involved a fox near an auto parts store in the 7500 block of St. Andrews Road near the New Friarsgate neighborhood in January, according to the department. 

No one has been bitten. 

Buck said he wanted to make sure the community is aware of rabies, and to watch for rabid animals in and around their neighborhoods.  

According to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, rabies can be passed to a healthy animal or a person if saliva from an animal with late-stage rabies gets into a wound or cut.

In South Carolina, rabies is most often found in the following:

• Raccoons
• Foxes
• Skunks
• Bats

Signs or symptons of rabies in animals include:

• Wild animals may seem friendly or tame.
• Animals may appear drunk, wobbly, or disoriented, or circle repeatedly.
• They may seem partially paralyzed.
• They may mutilate themselves — bite at a paw or leg, for instance.
• An animal may be oddly agitated and seem to bite at something that's not there.
• They may have a hard time eating or drinking.
• Some, but not all of the time, in the very last stages of the disease before death, a rabid animal may drool a lot or have frothy saliva around the mouth. It's rare to see this. (Note - opossums sometimes hiss, drool and sway as part of a bluffing routine, but they typically do not carry rabies.)

Symptoms in humans can include:

• Irritability
• Headache
• Fever
• Sometimes itching or pain at the site of exposure
• Paralysis
• Convulsions
• Death

If anyone sees what they believe to be a rabid animal, contact the Lexington County Health Department at 803-785-8113, the Richland County Health Department at 803-576-2910 or their local law enforcement agency.