Officials tight lipped about delayed report of rabies at lake
Staff writers
County officials waited three days to disclose a potentially serious health hazard posed by discovery near the county lake of a stray cat suspected of being infected by the deadly rabies virus.
Even after making limited disclosure of the discovery, they have been tight lipped about details.
Among questions officials have refused to answer are where at the lake the animal was found and why it was not preserved and tested as required by state regulations.
Additional questions surfaced after the lake was placed under a blue-green algae warning. Exposure to neurotoxins in some strains of algae can mimic some symptoms of rabies.
To date, county health department officials have released no information to news media. They specifically declined requests to be interviewed Friday.
The department did post a cursory note on social media at 3:34 p.m. Thursday. But that note raised more questions than it answered. It also was posted to an account with just 227 followers, only a tiny fraction of whom actually would have seen it
County Administrator Tina Spencer emailed a copy of the posting to the Marion County Record after hours Thursday.
When the Record attempted to follow up first thing Friday, health department officials referred all questions to Spencer, but Spencer initially told the Record she knew no specifics.
Later, she said the cat had been found exhibiting aggression, confusion, and stilted movement July 9 in a residential area. She declined to identify the area.
“The animal was disposed of but was unable to be tested,” she wrote in an email.
Asked how the animal had been disposed of and why it could not be tested, Spencer replied: “Those details are not being released.”
State regulations require that any animal exhibiting “signs suggestive of rabies ... shall be euthanized, and the head or entire brain (including brainstem) shall be submitted for rabies testing.”
The original posting from the health department stated:
“A suspected rabies case in a feral (stray) cat has been identified near the Marion County Lake. Rabies is a deadly virus that affects the brain and nervous system of mammals, including humans.”
The post goes on to say that people should watch for signs of rabies in animals.
Signs include unprovoked aggression, excessive salivation, staggering and paralysis, difficulty swallowing, and unusual behavior.
Exposure to neurotoxins present in anabaena cyanobacteria (a straing of blue-green algae) include stumbling or falling, foaming at the mouth, tremors and seizures, convulsions, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, and excessive drooling, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Algae effects are largely non-communicable, but animals, including people, can be exposed to rabies by being bitten or scratched by a rabid animal or by its saliva or brain tissue contacting broken skin, eyes, nose, or mouth.
People should avoid contact with wild or feral animals, keep pets up to date on rabies vaccinations, and report suspicious animal behavior or aggressive animals to the sheriff’s office at (620) 382-2144, the county health department's original notice stated.
People who think they have been exposed to rabies should immediately seek medical care and contact the health department at (620) 382-2550, it continued.
The Kansas Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which performs testing for rabies, did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Physician Don Hodson, who serves as county medical adviser, told the Record Friday night that he had not been informed of the situation.
While not mentioning the discovery, the Animal Health Center veterinary clinic of Marion posted on its social media account at 7:30 p.m. Thursday that it would be “doing a pop-up rabies vaccine booster clinic.”
The clinic was scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, and the notice offered a $10 discount to anyone presenting a screen shot of the social media ad.
According to sources, the posting originally said the clinic would be at the county lake hall, but this could not be verified. Any earlier posting apparently was removed.
Under the Kansas Open Records Act, the Record is making an urgent request for copies of all communication to or from county employees regarding the suspected rabies case.