Claim: More cases of rabies in skunks confirmed in Detroit area.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Prevalence of rabies
text: Mexico the same trend of increased prevalence in wildlife has been observed with a reported 57% increase in the number of rabid bats. As of 2017, there have been 11 confirmed cases of rabies in New Mexico: 5 bats, 2 skunks, 2 bobcats, and 2 foxes. Conversely to these two states, Arizona in 2015 saw a drop in the number of confirmed rabies cases with a 21.3% decrease in reported skunk and fox rabies virus variants. Furthermore, during that same time frame in Arizona 53.3% of all reported positive rabies cases were bats and 40% were identified as skunks. Similarly,

title: Skunk
text: cases of rabies in skunks in the United States for the year 2006—about 21.5% of reported cases in all species. Skunks trail raccoons as vectors of rabies, although this varies regionally in the United States; raccoons dominate along the Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, skunks throughout the Midwest and down to the western Gulf, and in California. "Mephitis mephitis", the striped skunk, is the most social skunk and the one most commonly tamed. In the US, skunks can legally be kept as pets in seventeen states. When a skunk is kept as a pet, its scent glands are

title: Rabies in animals
text: for the strain of rabies that afflicts skunks. When cases are reported of pet skunks biting a human, the animals are frequently killed in order to be tested for rabies. It has been reported that three different variants of rabies exist in striped skunks in the north and south central states. Humans exposed to the rabies virus must begin post-exposure prophylaxis before the disease can progress to the central nervous system. For this reason, it is necessary to determine whether the animal, in fact, has rabies as quickly as possible. Without a definitive quarantine period in place for skunks, quarantining

title: Prevalence of rabies
text: States outside the Southern states, but raccoons in the mid-Atlantic and northeast United States have been suffering from a rabies epidemic since the 1970s, that is now moving westwards into Ohio. Most westward expansion has been prevented via the action of Oral Rabies Vaccination (ORV) programs. In the midwestern United States, skunks are the primary carriers of rabies, composing 134 of the 237 documented non-human cases in 1996. The most widely distributed reservoir of rabies in the United States, however, and the source of most human cases in the U.S., are bats. Nineteen of the twenty-two human rabies cases documented

title: Prevalence of rabies
text: the increase in the number of residents by 9.2% between 2010 and 2016 has led to an elevated risk of rabies to the public. Additionally, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, reported cases, as well as the geographical distribution, in skunks, raccoons, and bats have increased; thereby further enhancing the likelihood of exposure. Together these increased risk factors have been documented in the state by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which reported 141 positive animals; 95 of these reported animal cases were suspected to have exposed 180 domestic pets, 193 livestock animals, and 59 people. In New

title: Skunks as pets
text: bill in the Maryland legislature to legalize pet skunks in that state. Several officials spoke in opposition to the measure before the Environmental Matters committee. Mike Slattery, testifying on behalf of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, criticized the idea, saying it would encourage "Bambi syndrome", the tendency to domesticate wild animals. State health officials pointed out that the bill, HB 91, required rabies vaccinations when there is no federally approved rabies vaccine for skunks. Rabies has, in fact, been a key issue in skunk-related legislative debates. Since wild skunks account for the second-largest number of rabies cases in wildlife

title: Skunks as pets
text: in the US, many legislators have been reluctant to allow domestic skunks without an appropriate vaccine on the market. In addition to the problems at the state level, federal organizations set the policy for dealing with accidental skunk bites, which currently requires euthanizing the animal so rabies tests can be performed. In February 1990, a rabies vaccine called Imrab 3 was approved for ferrets. Many skunk advocates believe the vaccine would also be effective for skunks, and are pushing to have it tested for this use. They also favor clinical tests to determine the appropriate quarantine/observation period in case of

title: Rabies in animals
text: did not remember any direct contact with bats. Rabies cases in the Virginia opossum are spillover cases from other wildlife species such as bats, skunks and the raccoon epizootic in the eastern United States. Cases have been reported across the United States from California to New York. In New York state, laboratory confirmed rabies cases in opossums occurred five of the ten years between from 1989 to 1999. Recently, from 2010 to 2014, rabid Virginia opossums were reported in New York City and the states of New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. In the U.S., there is currently no USDA-approved vaccine

title: Rabies in animals
text: the animals is not advised as there is no way of knowing how long it may take the animal to show symptoms. Destruction of the skunk is recommended and the brain is then tested for presence of rabies virus. Skunk owners have recently organized to campaign for USDA approval of both a vaccine and an officially recommended quarantine period for skunks in the United States. Under normal circumstances, wild wolves are generally timid around humans, though there are several reported circumstances in which wolves have been recorded to act aggressively toward humans. The majority of fatal wolf attacks have historically

title: Skunks as pets
text: be tested for rabies. In the United States, there is no government-approved rabies vaccine or quarantine period for skunks. In Canada, Imrab 3 was used in a study for off-label use as a skunk rabies vaccine and to date it is not approved for skunk use. If a skunk nips or bites, and the owner can produce proof of vaccination, a 2-week quarantine is required, according to Vivianne Chernoff of Skunks as Pets Canada. Many countries, such as Japan, require all newly imported skunks to be quarantined. In 2003, The Guardian reported that the UK lacks quarantine kennels licensed to

title: Skunk
text: using a mixture of dilute hydrogen peroxide (3%), baking soda, and dishwashing liquid. Skunk spray is composed mainly of three low-molecular-weight thiol compounds, ("E")-2-butene-1-thiol, 3-methyl-1-butanethiol, and 2-quinolinemethanethiol, as well as acetate thioesters of these. These compounds are detectable by the human nose at concentrations of only 10 parts per billion. It is rare for a healthy skunk to bite a human. While a tame skunk with its scent glands removed may defend itself by biting, there are few recorded incidents. The most prevalent cause of skunks biting humans is the rabies virus. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recorded 1,494

title: Skunks as pets
text: Public Health Veterinarians' annual Rabies Compendium sets the procedures for what to do if a skunk bites someone. In Canada, Mike Freeman of Freeman's Exotic Skunks was ordered in 1999 by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to destroy his entire stock of 100 adult and 700 baby skunks. Although the agency had approved his farm in 1997, the 1998 Fish and Wildlife Act outlawed breeding. Natural Resources Minister John Snobelen ultimately gave him six months to sell or give away the animals in the U.S., saying, "No one wants to see these animals euthanized and that won't have to

title: Skunks as pets
text: a skunk bite. This would provide a way to test skunks without the need for euthanasia. According to Aspen Skunk Rabies Research, part of the reason that this research has not been done yet is the high cost of these clinical trials, which would be difficult for drug companies to recoup. In the early 2000s, People for Domestic Skunks gathered more than 4,000 signatures for its Nationwide Domestic Skunk Petition. According to Aspen Skunk Rabies Research, Inc., the effectiveness of petitions is limited by the fact that many important decisions are made by national organizations. The National Association of State

title: Striped skunk
text: Mammalian predators typically avoid skunks, unless they're starving. Such predators include cougars, coyotes, bobcats, badgers, and red and gray foxes. Predatory birds, including golden and bald eagles, and great horned owls tend to have greater success in hunting skunks, though they still risk being blinded by their prey's musk. The striped skunk is one of the major carriers of the rabies virus, second only to raccoons in the US where skunks are 25% of annual cases. Skunks are the primary hosts in the north- and south-central US as well as in Canada. Cases of rabies in this species are generally

title: Prevalence of rabies
text: of which were due to exposures outside of the U.S. Human exposures to the virus is dependent on the prevalence of the virus in animals, thus investigations into the incidence and distribution of animal populations is vital. A breakdown of the results obtained from animal surveillance in the U.S. for 2015 revealed that wild animals accounted for 92.4% and domestic animals accounted for 7.6% of all reported cases. In wild animals, bats were the most frequently reported rabid species (30.9% of cases during 2015), followed by raccoons (29.4%), skunks (24.8%), and foxes (5.9%). Rabies was once rare in the United

title: Prevalence of rabies
text: in October 1996 in Cumberland County, Kentucky and a man who died in December 1996 in Missoula County, Montana were both infected with a rabies strain found in silver-haired bats; although bats were found living in the chimney of the woman's home and near the man's workplace, neither victim could remember having had any contact with them. Similar reports among spelunkers led to experimental demonstration in animals. This inability to recognize a potential infection, in contrast to a bite from a dog or raccoon, leads to a lack of proper prophylactic treatment, and is the cause of the high mortality

title: Rabies in animals
text: considered a possible exposure to the rabies virus. Most cases of rabies in rodents reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S.A. have been found among groundhogs (woodchucks). Small rodents such as squirrels, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, chipmunks, rats, and mice and lagomorphs like rabbits and hares are almost never found to be infected with rabies and are not known to transmit rabies to humans. In the United States, the most commonly reported rabid animal is the domestic cat. In every year since 1990, reported cases of rabies in cats have outnumbered cases of rabies in

title: Skunks as pets
text: According to James Furniss, a good skunk owner needs to be a do-it-yourself-er and willing to put in a lot of effort. There are, however, relocation options if a pet skunk does not work out, including skunk shelters. Skunks and other mammals can contract rabies by being bitten by an infected animal or eating the carcass of an infected animal. Although it is quite rare for domesticated skunks to get rabies, there have been many unfortunate cases in which an uninfected pet skunk bit a person, and then was euthanized by animal control personnel so that its brain cells could

title: Skunks as pets
text: the order Carnivora. This is the same order as cats, dogs, and ferrets. There are several different pet skunk organizations giving out conflicting advice on skunk care. Particularly in the medical realm, it is wise to consult multiple sources rather than rely on any one source of information from the Internet. Males should be neutered between 3 and 4 months of age. Females should be spayed between 4 and 6 months of age. Most skunk organizations recommend Purevax Distemper and Rabies vaccinations. Only distemper has been shown to cause disease or illness in skunks. Other vaccinations created for dogs and

title: Prevalence of rabies
text: species, including bats, monkeys, raccoons, foxes, skunks, wolves, coyotes, dogs, mongoose, weasels, cats, cattle, domestic farm animals, groundhogs, bears, and wild carnivores. However, dogs are the principal host in Asia, parts of America, and large parts of Africa. Mandatory vaccination of animals is less effective in rural areas, especially in developing countries where pets may be community property and their destruction unacceptable. Oral vaccines can be safely administered to wild animals through bait, a method initiated on a large scale in Belgium that has successfully reduced rabies in rural areas of Canada, France, the United States, and elsewhere. For example,