Tests have confirmed that the fox that attacked a man in Tiftonia on March 16 was infected with the raccoon strain of rabies, making it imperative that people who live in that area and on the slopes of Lookout Mountain make sure their cats and dogs are all up-to-date on rabies vaccinations, public health officials said Thursday.

“This case represents the first natural spread of raccoon rabies into the Tennessee River valley from the other side of Lookout Mountain in Georgia,” said Dr. Gary Swinger, a veterinarian with the Tennessee Department of Health.

Jim Parks, environmental director of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department, said the man who was attacked by the fox is undergoing preventative treatment for rabies. The fox is the second animal here to test positive for raccoon rabies this year, he noted; the first was a raccoon killed in a fight with a dog in February in the Tyner/Highway 58 area.

The fact that a fox had raccoon rabies is alarming because it is proof positive that in this area the disease has spread from raccoons, its natural host, to other species, Parks said.

Further, raccoons become extremely aggressive and attack other animals when they have rabies, so it is easy for the disease to spread quickly from animal to animal.

“It could just as easily have been a dog or cat instead of a fox,” he noted.

Raccoon rabies presents an additional threat because raccoons are more likely to come into contact with people and their pets. Raccoons are more social and intermingle with people more often than skunks and bats, the two species most often associated with rabies in this area.
During recent years, Georgia reported 35 raccoon rabies cases in Walker County, which adjoins the Lookout Mountain/Tiftonia sections of Tennessee.

Swinger said the rabid fox in Tiftonia was recovered near the Tennessee River, about 1.5 miles east of exit 174 of I-24.

In addition to making sure all pets are vaccinated, he said, “People in that area should be informed to be extra vigilant for any wildlife appearing ill or behaving in an unusual manner, such as being overly friendly.”

Rabies, a fatal disease caused by a virus that attacks the central nervous system, can affect human beings as well as other mammals. The virus lives in the saliva of infected animals and often is carried by wild animals.

If a rabid animal bites or scratches an unvaccinated animal or a person, and its saliva passes through the wound into the victim’s nervous system, the second animal or the person also can develop the disease.

Symptoms of rabies include unusual behavior, an inability to eat or drink, balance problems, circling, seizures, coma and finally death.
Tennessee had no cases of raccoon rabies until 2003, when it became the 20th state to document raccoon rabies. At that time, five cases had been identified in the easternmost tip of Tennessee in Carter and Johnson counties.

The two cases in Hamilton County are the only additional raccoon rabies cases to be reported in Tennessee since that time, Parks said.

To report possible contacts with rabid animals, or for more information, contact the environmental section of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department by calling 209-8110.