Rabies rears its ugly head on the Y-K Delta once again

For the second time since 2007, a rabid wolf attacked in Southwest Alaska, and this time the victim was a human.

Rodrick Phillip from the village of Kongiganak is now undergoing rabies treatment and expected to be fine. He was attacked by a lone wolf earlier this week while moose hunting with friends along the Kuskokwim River about six miles downstream from the village of Kalskag.

Two years ago, a pack of rabid wolves invaded the village of Marshall -- about 75 miles to the north of Kalksag on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta -- and killed six dogs.

"Rabid wolves have obviously always been out there,'' Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Cathy Harms in Fairbanks said Friday. "We just can't tell you how many there are. We don't do any routine testing.''

The state agency deals with rabid animals form the Y-K Delta every year. A huge swath of islands, marshes, swamps, tundra and brushy lowlands stretching for almost 250 miles along the Bering Sea between the mouths of the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers, the Delta is home to more wolves and foxes than people.

Rabies among foxes in this region are common, and it is believed wolves in recent years have contracted rabies from they're small canine cousins. Foxes, Harms said, are usually good at hiding from wolves, but the senses of rabid animals are dulled. Wolves are likely to find and kill rabid foxes, contracting rabies themselves.

"We confirm rabies in the Y-K area every year,'' Harms said. "The pool (for the disease) is red foxes. Red foxes tend to last a little longer; when the arctic foxes get it, they tend to die quickly.''

Alaska officials are warning people everywhere on the Delta to be alert to both wolves and foxes behaving strangely. Both canines are documented carriers of rabies, but unlike the dog in the tragic movie "Old Yeller,'' they don't foam at the mouth to signal their condition. They merely take on a dulled expression and lose their natural fear of humans, Harms said. Some might even approach people. She warned against letting them get close.

"In the latter stages (of rabies), they will bite indiscriminately,'' she said. "They will bite almost anything around them.''

The smart thing to do when encountering an animal like this is to kill it and stay far away. People do not need to be bitten to contract rabies. They can get it from the saliva of a dead animal. Trappers should be careful not to allow saliva or salivary glands to come in contact with open wounds.

Harms suggests that if anyone kills an animal they suspect is rabid, they leave it where it is and report it to the nearest office of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. If it must be moved, she said, it should be sealed up in plastic bags or wrap.

Also, state health officials warn dog owners throughout the Delta to make sure their dogs are vaccinated. Unvaccinated dogs exposed to rabid foxes or wolves run a high risk of developing rabies and can expose other animals and people. Dog owners in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta with questions or concerns should contact the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation Office of Environmental Health at (907) 543-6420.

Harms stressed it is also important for people who handle rabid animals to remember to notify Fish and Game, the agency charged with dealing with rabid wild animals in Alaska. The agency, she said, didn't find out about the Kalskag wolf until its head arrived at the office of the Alaska State Virology Lab in Fairbanks. It was shipped there by Bethel-area health officials who needed it tested for rabies.

For those wishing to learn more about rabies, state health officials have set up a website at www.epi.alaska.gov/id/rabies/default.htm.

Contact Craig Medred at craig@alaskadispatch.com