DHEC advice to reduce the risk of rabies

State health authorities say the stray cat which bit a woman last week at West Union and tested positive for rabies is the third animal from Oconee County to test positive so far in 2016.  And it leads to this advice from Sandra Craig of the “DHEC” Bureau of Environmental Services:  “To reduce the risk of getting rabies, we recommend that people avoid wild animals acting tame and tame animals acting wild.”  In the meantime, the woman bitten has started post-exposure treatment after being potentially exposed.  According to Craig, rabies is a deadly virus that is transmitted when saliva or neural tissue of an infected animal is introduced into the body, usually through a bite, or contact with an open wound or areas such as the mouth or the eyes.  Keeping your pets up-to-date on their rabies vaccination is one of the easiest and most effective ways to protect yourself, your family and your pets.  There have been 56 confirmed cases of animal rabies statewide this year. There were 130 confirmed cases of animal rabies last year in the state, with 10 of them in Oconee County.