Dog tests positive for rabies in Baker Lake
Animal euthanized March 20 after contact with fox; residents warned of health risk
A dog that was euthanized last month in Baker Lake after having contact with a fox tested positive for rabies, according to a news release from the Health Department. (File photo)
A dog in Baker Lake that was euthanized March 20 after having contact with a fox has tested positive for rabies.
A second dog is in quarantine because it had close contact with the dog that was euthanized, said Health Department spokesperson Chris Puglia in a news release Friday.
The Department of Health advises people in the community to be on the lookout for foxes due to the danger of rabies.
Earlier in March, the department sent out a rabies warning for Baker Lake after two people there were attacked by foxes.
If a person has been bitten or scratched by a fox or a dog, they should go to the local health centre and report the incident immediately, Puglia said.
Treatment must be started quickly after exposure as rabies infections are almost always fatal if left untreated.
Domestic animals that spend time tied up outdoors should be monitored for a change in behaviour and signs of rabies, such as behaving strangely, staggering, frothing at the mouth, choking or making strange noises.
Animals exhibiting these signs should be avoided and reported to a regional environmental health officer at 867-645-6660 or a conservation officer at 867-793-2944.
“Treatment must be started quickly after exposure as rabies infections are almost always fatal if left untreated.”
Rabies has the highest human mortality rate of any known disease on Earth, at an estimated 99.9+%. “Almost always fatal” is a bit of an understatement.
All Nunavut health centers get rabies vaccines free to give out to people’s pets. If you want to get a rabies shot for your dogs/puppies, just call the health center. Each vial has 10 shots in it, easier to get the syringes and a vial to do yourself if you have a dog team. (Goes in the fatty part of the back of the neck, easy for a nurse to show how).
More thing to worry about beside s climate change.
Just in time for spring, all the kids out sliding do something Hamlet, HTO,
Parents.♥️
Please make sure the children are safe.
Carry hockey sticks.?