13 April 2017 (16:33 UTC-07 Tango 06) 24 Farvardin 1396/16 Rajab 1438/17 Jia Chen 4715
“We do this every year, but this year it’s been an epidemic.”-Jerry Harrison, Alcoa County Animal Control, Tennessee
Since the end of March there’s been a sudden increase in sightings of diseased raccoons in the United States and Canada.
In Tennessee, skyrocketing cases of raccoons being culled due to unknown (so far) disease. According to animal control employees the average number of sick raccoons put-down in a year is about three, but in Alcoa County they euthanized 18 raccoons just in the month of March!
The symptoms displayed are similar to canine distemper or rabies. Distemper is not a threat to humans, but rabies is, so as a precaution all sick raccoons are being killed until USDA test results reveal what is making them sick: “Most of the time, it’s going to be distemper, and it kind of mimics the rabies, the tremors, things like that. It’s probably going to be distemper, but we won’t know until the testing is done.”- Eddie King, Maryville County Animal Control
The problem with canine distemper and rabies is that symptoms are similar; being out in the open during the day, no fear of humans, trembling, foaming at the mouth, walking in circles.
I was surprised to discover that some U.S. states treat raccoons as if they are the source of disease. Raccoons are unknowing spreaders of disease, but the disease doesn’t start with them. Canine distemper can be blamed on dogs brought to the Americas by European settlers. Rabies was first identified more than 4-thousand years ago by the ancient Egyptians, it too could have been spread to the Americas by European settlers and their farm animals. This is more historical proof that immigration is a bad thing for native specie.
Reports of sick raccoons are coming out of Alabama as well. Social media reports by residents of the city of Homewood reveal numerous sightings of sick raccoons. One raccoon was killed and is undergoing testing.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is warning the public of all the various diseases that raccoons can unknowingly spread, after a raccoon was found sick with rabies.
In Virginia, towards the end of March a woman in Arlington was attacked by a raccoon while she was sitting on her back porch. She said the animal came “out of nowhere” and bit her leg. She received rabies vaccinations as a result. Just today, reports out of Newport News say another raccoon tested positive for rabies.
In South Carolina, a veterinarian broke-up a fight between one raccoon and three dogs earlier this month, this week test results showed the raccoon had rabies. Interestingly the vet said other than trying to fight three dogs the raccoon showed no signs of being sick.
The true vector of disease isn’t the raccoons, but the fleas, ticks and mosquitoes that love to suck animal’s blood (humans are animals, take that you filthy animal Donald Trump for calling al-Assad an “animal”).
In British empire Canada, the Province of Ontario warning of increased cases of rabies in raccoons. Significant considering there hasn’t been a documented case of raccoons with rabies in many parts of Ontario for the past ten years! Rabies can be spread through saliva. Manager of Health Protection for Public Health Services, Jessica Morris, warned “Once the virus…..hits the brain…it’s essentially too late…”
OPERATION JUPITER: SHARK DNA FOR FUTURE SOLDIERS?
OPERATION JUPITER: ANTHRAX IS THE ZOMBIE DISEASE LAZARUS!
OPERATION JUPITER: A SMALL PART OF A LARGER MILITARY OPERATION SPREADING DISEASE!