News Release 

TOMPKINS COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Brenda Grinnell Crosby – Interim Public Health Director

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information contact:
Environmental Health Division
Clayton Maybee or Audrey Balander - (607) 274-6688

Rabid Cat in Town of Ulysses - Residents Urged to Be Aware

On August 24, 2010, a feral cat from Jacksonville Road between Agard Road and Kraft Road in the Town of Ulysses was determined to be rabid by the New York State Rabies Laboratory.

The cat had short gray and white fur and was acting alternately friendly and aggressive biting two people before being captured by animal control personnel. Those people have already begun treatment for rabies. If you or your pets have had any contact with a cat with this description in the Jacksonville Road area, please contact the Tompkins County Environmental Health Department at 274-6688 immediately. Other feral cats may have had contact with this cat. Any human or pet contact with stray or feral cats should be avoided.

Rabies is prevalent throughout Tompkins County and has been confirmed in seven of the County’s nine towns. To date a total of nine raccoons, two skunks, one fox and one cat have tested positive for rabies in 2010.

The Health Department reminds everyone to:
Avoid contact with any unfamiliar cats or dogs and any wild animals.
All cats, dogs and ferrets must have initial rabies vaccinations administered no later than four months of age. Keep vaccinations current! Pets that are not current with rabies vaccinations are considered unvaccinated and are subject to six month quarantine or euthanasia if in contact with a rabid animal.
Report the following incidents to the Tompkins County Health Department at 274-6688:

• All animal bites or scratches.
• Any human or pet contact with saliva or other potentially infectious material
  (brain tissue, spinal tissue, or cerebro-spinal fluid) of wild animals or any animal
  suspected of having rabies.
• All bat bites, scratches, or any mere skin contact with a bat, or a bat in a room
  with a child, or sleeping or impaired person.

The Tompkins County Health Department provides FREE rabies clinics every four months. Upcoming clinics include:

• Newfield School Bus Garage on Wednesday, September 22, 2010
• GrotonFire Station on Thursday, September 23, 2010
• Caroline HighwayGarage on Wednesday, September 29, 2010
• Trumansburg School Bus Garage on Thursday, September 30, 2010
• IthacaCentral Fire Station Wednesday, October 6, 2010
• TompkinsCounty SPCAon Wednesday, January 19, 2011.
  

 

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