State veterinarian: Torrington kitten tests positive for rabies
TORRINGTON — An 8-month-old female kitten recently tested positive for rabies, according to the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.
State Veterinarian Jane Lewis said the kitten, who either lived or was allowed outside, was not vaccinated against the deadly disease and “shared food and water with other outdoor cats and wildlife.”
No human exposures were reported, Lewis said.
Cats contract rabies at the highest rate of any domestic animal, according to the state Department of Public Health.
The virus is typically transmitted by contact with infected saliva and remains dormant in the body for an average of two months in cats, a 2009 article published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery said.
While Lewis did not explicitly disclose the kitten’s fate, postmortem analysis of brain tissue is the only way to definitively confirm a rabies diagnosis in animals.
Rebecca Eddy, spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, confirmed in a phone call the kitten had been euthanized. She said she did not know if the kitten was feral, stray or owned.
Under Connecticut law, cats and dogs more than 3 months old are required to be vaccinated against rabies to protect people and other animals, according to the Department of Public Health. Violations are punishable by fines.
Lewis suggested the
Torrington kitten’s case drives home the importance of rabies vaccinations for pets and livestock.
“Rabies vaccination should not be delayed, especially in situations where a pet has never been vaccinated or when a wildlife exposure has occurred, and a booster vaccination is needed as part of the postexposure treatment,” she said.
Lewis said rabies is “endemic” in Connecticut. In 2022, 15 cases of rabies had been detected in the Constitution State as of Aug. 31.
The cases spanned five counties and involved one fox, four bats, four skunks and six raccoons.
Bats, foxes, skunks and raccoons are the four most common sources of rabies in the wild, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other animals diagnosed with rabies in Connecticut since 2015 include dogs, cows, beavers, bobcats, coyotes, woodchucks and groundhogs, Department of Public Health statistics show.
The most recent human case of rabies in Connecticut occurred in Greenwich in the 1990s, contemporaneous with the spread of the disease from southern states, according to the CDC. In September 1995, a 13-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital complaining of fever, neck pain and painful sensations in her left arm and the left side of her face. Rabies became the suspected diagnosis after she was observed having difficulty swallowing water.