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An "epidemic" of canine distemper, a disease that usually affects dogs, kills raccoons by a dozen people in three cities in Ocean County, officials said.
The "Muskrat", police officer and police officer from Point Pleasant, Jack Neary issued this warning to borough residents, as well as to Bay Head and Point Pleasant Beach on Monday.
"I do not know how many exactly, but I would say we had to register between 35 and 40 people in all three cities," Neary said. "I've taken three, four or five a day in recent days."
He stated that the disease was "primarily" in Point Pleasant Beach and Point Pleasant, and that most raccoons were teenagers.
"It's rampant in their colonies," he said. "I've seen it many years ago, but not at this point – it's really very intense."
A dog that is not vaccinated against canine distemper can also be infected.
"All the raccoon should do, is to hang out in a bowl of water or food on the outside," he said. "All the dog needs to do to get it is to inhale it."
"We do not know exactly how it started, but a dog probably had the virus and infected a raccoon," Neary said. "Raccoons are not immune to this virus, dying of a slow and dying death".
The symptoms of canine distemper resemble those of animals with rabies, including the fact that raccoons act "weirdly" during the day, said an article on the Facebook page of the Police Department Point Pleasant.
The eyes of an infected raccoon will look to be "gummed with a green discharge" and the animal "will smell like it's breaking down".
Neary explained that the main concern about the virus is that, unlike the rabies transmitted by saliva, it is transmitted by air, which allows it to be transmitted more easily to other raccoons.
Humans can not catch the disease.
Neary asked everyone who saw a raccoon exhibiting canine distemper behavior to immediately call the police so that the animal could be removed.
Chris Sheldon can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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