Williamsburg County woman treated for rabies after cat attack

A Williamsburg County woman is under the care of a physician after a stray cat that attacked her tested positive for rabies, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported Friday.

“The cat attacked the woman in her yard in the Cades community,” Sue Ferguson of DHEC’s Bureau of Environmental Health said in the release.

This is the second confirmed rabid animal in Williamsburg County in 2009. Last year, there were no rabid animals confirmed in the county.

In 2008, there were 166 confirmed cases of rabies in animals in South Carolina. So far this year, there have been 105 confirmed cases in animals in the state.

Ferguson said about 400 South Carolinians undergo preventive treatment for rabies every year, with most exposures from being bitten or scratched by a rabid or suspected rabid animal. Anyone bitten, scratched or otherwise exposed to the saliva of a rabid animal must undergo immediate measures to stop the virus because, once the rabies virus reaches the brain, the disease is fatal to humans and animals.

“Avoid wild animals acting tame and tame animals acting wild,” she said. “Wild animals carry the disease most often but, as in this case, domestic pets can also contract rabies. Therefore, to protect both the pets, their owners and other members of the community, we strongly encourage every pet owner to make sure their cats, dogs and ferrets are regularly vaccinated against the disease. State law requires that all pets be vaccinated against rabies.

Those who think they have been exposed to the rabies virus through a bite, scratch or the saliva of a possibly infected animal should immediately wash the affected area with plenty of soap and water, then be sure to get medical attention and report the incident to DHEC, Ferguson said.

For more information about rabies, see DHEC’s Web page at http://www.scdhec.gov/rabies or contact DHEC’s Darlington County Environmental Health office at (843) 332-7303. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web page about rabies can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies.