BRUNSWICK

Brunswick residents want to know if there’s an end in sight to the rabies situation in Brunswick, following several attacks by rabid animals that occurred over the summer.

That was the prevailing theme during a discussion Thursday night, when a panel of state experts spoke about rabies prevention, symptoms and treatment. The experts couldn’t, however, say for sure when residents will no longer have cause for concern about the disease.

“This has actually been a pretty normal year in terms of the number of rabies cases in the state,” said Michele Walsh, state veterinarian. “I’m sure it doesn’t feel normal to Brunswick.”

Rabies typically spreads as mammals have more contact with other animals during mating season and when they are raising young; cases drop off as animals begin to hibernate.

Brunswick Animal Control Officer Heidi Nelson organized Thursday’s event after four people were attacked by a fox on Moody Road July 27, and a rabid raccoon was found dead on Range Road that same weekend.

Sarah Morgan’s daughter was bitten that day on Moody Road.

“I’m wondering when the narrative changed,” Morgan said. “I remember getting a robo-call saying there’s a rabies epidemic in Brunswick, and it seemed like panic. And then my daughter’s attacked and I hear, ‘Don’t panic. Just respect wildlife.’”

She said her family hadn’t done anything to invite the attack — the fox had charged out of the woods.

“Given that information, what do you do? Because I’m going to be honest, I don’t want my kids out in the yard because I don’t feel like this is over,” Morgan said.

Maine Wildlife Biologist Scott Lindsay said fox, raccoon and skunk have always been here, but populations fluctuate from year to year, sometimes based on the food supply. When there are more of these animals, there’s a greater opportunity of rabies exposure from animal to animal.

“You’re in a place where there’s a larger human population,” Lindsay said. “It’s simply going to be, again, a greater chance of exposure between an animal and yourself.”

While Morgan’s family wasn’t inviting interaction with the fox, Walsh said “there are an awful lot of people in our communities who put out food for foxes; who put out food for other wild animals and it is really something that we strongly discourage.”

The message was echoed by Grant Connors of Brunswick. An animal damage control agent licensed by the state, he removes wild animals from people’s property. A retired teacher and a conservationist, he said rabies is a way nature controls populations.

“The truth of the matter is, we are our own worst enemies here,” Connors said. “If you really want to deal with the problem yourself, stop feeding the birds.”

Walsh said many have asked why the oral rabies vaccination baits, dropped by plane in northern Maine, isn’t being used in the Brunswick area.

“The reason is that it’s not effective in an urban area really,” she said.

The bait program is designed to create a barrier from preventing rabies in Maine from spreading north. It’s an expensive process in part, Walsh said, because there are huge land masses affected by this disease.

‘A really scary situation’

Nelson also raised awareness Thursday about bats, which can especially get into older homes more easily. An estimated 1 percent of them carry rabies, and bat’s teeth are so small, so their bite may be undetectable. She said she had taken seven bats to the state lab for testing this week after residents awoke to find them flying around their heads. Six of them tested already were negative for rabies.

That also illustrates the need to vaccinate indoor cats, too, which is required by law.

“Your cats may not go outside but unfortunately wildlife will come inside periodically,” Nelson said.

Betty McNally of Brunswick said her family knows firsthand the danger of rabid bats. Her daughter, a Bowdoin resident, called her mother’s house one morning in April to ask if her father could come help with a bat in her house.

The bat was caught, and tested positive for rabies. Her daughter and husband had bites on their hands and her grandson may have been exposed. All three had to receive rabies treatment at Mid Coast Hospital.

“Three members of my family went through a really scary situation. Don’t say it doesn’t happen,” McNally said. “You cannot appreciate what it feels like until it happens to you.”

She praised the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance after the incident, but pointed out the treatment can be very expensive. The shots can cost $2,000-$5,000, according to Walsh, but McNally said it cost her family $11,000 each. Luckily their insurance helped significantly.

“We are talking a huge amount of money, not to mention the fear of what has happened to your family,” she said.

Walsh said most of the information shared Thursday is available in the Maine Rabies Management Guidelines, available here: https://bit.ly/2B5hBlM

dmoore@timesrecord.com