DOH-BAY CONFIRMS RABID RACCOON In the vicinity of STAR AVENUE AND YELLOW BLUFF Highway

Panama Metropolis, Fla. – The Florida Division of Health and fitness in Bay County (DOH-Bay) urges inhabitants to prevent get hold of with wild and stray animals to defend them selves from the risk of rabies publicity. This follows a confirmed circumstance of rabies in a raccoon that was killed in the region of Star Avenue and Yellow Bluff Street in Callaway. 

In Florida, raccoons, bats and foxes, and unvaccinated cats are the animals most commonly diagnosed with rabies. Other animals that are at substantial danger for rabies consist of skunks, otters, coyotes, bobcats, and stray or unvaccinated canines and ferrets. 

Rabies is transmitted through exposure to the saliva and nervous tissue from a rabid animal by a bite, scratch, or make contact with with mucous membranes such as the eyes, nose, or mouth. DOH-Bay works with Bay County Animal Products and services and Lynn Haven Animal Handle in responding to incidents of animal bites, assessments animals for rabies by the Division of Wellbeing state laboratory, and quarantines animals as vital. DOH-Bay also provides rabies vaccinations to victims of animal bites, the only recognized productive treatment for rabies prevention in human beings. 

The subsequent are steps you can acquire to shield by yourself and your loved kinds against rabies: 

• Continue to keep rabies vaccinations up to date for all pets and at-hazard livestock.
• Do not let your animals to operate absolutely free. Abide by leash laws by trying to keep pets and livestock secured on your property. If your pet or livestock are bitten by a wild animal, request veterinary support for the animal straight away and make contact with Bay County Animal Services at 767-3333 or in Lynn Haven, Lynn Haven Law enforcement at (850) 265-2112.Assist animal handle in initiatives to reduce feral and stray animal populations.
• Spay or neuter your pets to assist cut down the amount of undesirable animals that may well not be effectively cared for or regularly vaccinated.
• Do not handle, feed, or unintentionally catch the attention of wild animals with outdoor food items resources such as uncovered trash or litter.
• In no way adopt wild animals or provide them into your home.
• Educate youngsters hardly ever to deal with unfamiliar animals, wild or domestic, even if they surface pleasant.
• Reduce bats from entering dwelling quarters or occupied spaces in homes, church buildings, colleges, and other equivalent regions, where they may occur in get in touch with with men and women and pets.
• Folks who have been bitten or scratched by wild or domestic animals ought to find clinical interest and report the personal injury to the DOH-Bay at (850) 872-4455. 

For even further information and facts on Rabies, go to the Florida Division of Health website at https://www.floridahealth.gov/health conditions-and-circumstances/rabies/index.html or contact DOH-Bay at 850-872-4455 or adhere to us on Twitter @FLHealthEmerald. 

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About the Florida Division of Health

The Section, nationally accredited by the Public Wellness Accreditation Board, operates to defend, encourage, and strengthen the wellness of all people today in Florida through built-in point out, county, and community endeavours.

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