Harris County health workers are canvassing a specific neighborhood after a local animal died and tested positive for this serious condition.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A feral cat in the Greensbrook Place area of northeast Harris County has tested positive for rabies – the first time we’ve seen this happen with a domestic animal in the county since way back in 2015. The cat died on September 8, and health officials got the positive test results two days later on September 10.
Don’t panic though. Harris County Public Health is stressing that while they’re sharing this info to be extra careful, the actual risk to most of us is pretty low.
Starting Friday, you might see Harris County Public Health’s animal experts going door-to-door in the Greensbrook Place neighborhood, just making sure everyone knows what’s up and answering any questions people might have.
To put this in perspective, the last time Harris County dealt with a rabies case in a domestic animal was nearly a decade ago in the Tomball area. So yeah, this doesn’t happen very often around here.
What you need to know about rabies
Here’s the deal with rabies: it’s definitely serious and can be deadly since it goes after your central nervous system. But here’s the good news – it’s totally preventable if you get medical help before symptoms show up.
Any warm-blooded animal can get rabies, including us humans. Usually dogs, cats, and farm animals pick it up from wild animals. Here in Texas, you want to watch out for bats, skunks, raccoons, foxes, and coyotes – they’re the usual suspects when it comes to carrying rabies.
People typically get rabies from being bitten or scratched by an infected animal. But more often than not, it works like this: a wild animal bites someone’s dog or cat, and that’s how it spreads. This is exactly why keeping your pets vaccinated is so important – they basically act as a protective barrier between you and wildlife.
Here’s what health officials want you to do
Harris County Public Health has some straightforward advice for everyone:
- Keep your dogs and cats up to date on their rabies shots (that’s any pet four months or older)
- Don’t let your pets roam free – keep them inside or on a leash when they’re outside
- Teach your kids (and remind yourself) to stay away from any animal that looks sick or hurt
- Give wild animals plenty of space, especially skunks and bats
- If any animal bites or scratches you enough to break the skin, call animal control. Same goes if you have any contact with a bat, even if you’re not sure it bit you
- See a loose animal wandering around? Call animal control about that too
When to pick up the phone
If you were hanging out in the Greensbrook Place area between September 1-10 and got bitten or scratched by any wild animal, or if you’ve noticed wildlife acting weird in that neighborhood, go ahead and call (281) 999-3191.
Want to get your pet vaccinated for rabies? Check out Harris County Pets at https://www.countypets.com/Pet-Clinic for more info.
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