Rabies found in Central Alaska

Rabies was detected in two wolves for the first time in the Chandalar Lakes area, near Fairbanks, Alaska late this spring. 

A trapper shot and killed the first wolf in late March, after the wolf had uncharacteristically approached the trapper in the wild.

The second wolf was also slain by a trapper, who noticed that the wolf was acting strangely after it was captured. 

These wolves are the first cases of rabies in wildlife found in inland Alaska, and state wildlife workers are asking for tissue samples of recently killed wolves to verify if these are isolated incidents or signs of a larger outbreak of the disease.

Rabies has typically been confined to the northern and western coasts of Alaska, and the appearance of the disease in the interior of Alaska may have caught some sportsmen and pet owners off-guard. 

Rabies vaccine clinics are now being conducted in the vicinity, and hunters are being asked to refrain from feeding captured wildlife to their sled dogs and to take extra precautions when slaughtering or skinning animals.

Hunters are also being asked to dispose of wildlife carcasses, instead of transporting them or leaving them behind, as the disease can easily spread from the exposed tissues.

While skinning the first wolf, the hunter had cut himself and, after consultation with his physician, the carcass was tested for rabies and it was this that led to the identification of rabies.

In response, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is training people in rural communities to administer the rabies vaccine to domestic animals, and they are continuing surveillance programs in the interior wilderness areas.

State wildlife workers are not concerned that the new cases indicate a rise in rabies in the area.  The interior wilderness lands of Alaska are vast, and according to State Veterinarian, Robert Gerlach, these newly discovered cases of rabies signify that the disease is present in an area where prior rabies testing had not yet been completed. 

The number of rabies cases in foxes varies every three to five years in Alaska. The fluctuations in cases correlate with the population sizes of the artic hare, one of the primary food sources of the fox.

Foxes are the most common carrier of the rabies virus in Alaska but, due to the magnitude of the wilderness areas, the prevalence of rabies has not been established. State officials are worried, however, that the movement of the red fox from other areas of Alaska due to climate change may spread the disease further.

Contributed by Laura Baker, a GARC volunteer, based on news stories in the Alaska Dispatch on April 23rd and  May 2nd, and  NECN.com