Rabid kitten may have been exposed to additional people at June 3 Southbury Town Wide Tag Sale on Town Green

The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Pomperaug Health District today updated the public health notice that was issued on Saturday, June 10th regarding a rabid kitten first found in the area of the Wal-Mart off of Rt. 69 in Waterbury.

DPH is now advising anyone who may have handled the 4-5 week-old injured Black and White kitten with a damaged nose, at the Southbury, CT Town Wide Tag Sale on June 3, 2017 to seek medical advice. The Tag Sale was at the Southbury Green (ShopRite) located at 775 Main Street, South in Southbury, CT. It is believed that most of the time the kitten was located near the Whiskers Pet Rescue Booth. The kitten died on June 8th and tested positive for rabies on June 9th.

Rabies is a viral disease primarily of animals caused by infection of the brain and spinal cord. People get rabies from the bite of an infected animal. While rabies is a fatal disease once clinical signs appear, it can be prevented by thorough wound cleaning and timely medical treatment that includes administration of one dose of immune globulin (antibodies) and 4 doses of vaccine over 2 weeks.

For questions regarding human rabies exposures contact the DPH Epidemiology and Emerging Infections Program at 860-509-7994.