DIXFIELD, Maine — Six members of the same Dixfield family are getting precautionary rabies shots after their dogs came in contact with a rabid skunk.
Jamie and Nancy Milledge were hosting a birthday party at their home on Jan. 8 when a diseased skunk came into their yard. Their two dogs came in contact with the animal, which Jamie Milledge eventually shot and killed.
Even though no members of the family had direct contact with the skunk, they all petted the dogs’ saliva covered coats.
Testing at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the skunk was carrying the rabies virus, which can be passed onto humans through saliva.
Jamie Milledge told the Sun Journal that the shots’ side effects have taken a toll on their bodies.
That stinks.
This type of therapy is not pleasant to go thru and I wish this family well…..apparently “skunks” like birthday parties too……
Why do you say it’s “not pleasant?”
It’s no less pleasant than any other vaccination (although I’ll admit that the quantity of Rabies Ig (RIG) is based on body weight, so an adult can get quite a bit).
Vaccine shots can cause minimal side effects (i.e. site soreness and redness, slight fever, maybe minor aches or flu like symptoms) for a short period of time…..this treatment involves 5 shots over 28 days along with an injection of immune globulin in the butt on day 0…..the symptoms can be exacerbated and prolonged due to the number of vaccination shots required…..and, if you read the story in the Sun Journal you will see the extreme symptoms being dealt with by this family…..so that is why I stated the “not pleasant” comment……
Everything today is reported as a tragedy. Especially if it involves a wild animal. If my memory is correct, the last person to die of rabies in Maine happened more than 75 years ago – 1935, at Farmington.