In Omaha, Nebraska, a couple stumbled upon a tiny calico kitten in their friend’s garage. The little feline was barely five weeks old and weighed about 2 pounds, looking frail and underfed.
Touched by its plight, they decided to take the kitten in and care for it.
This calico kitten had a peculiar quirk – after taking its medicine, it would shake its head, flail its legs wildly, and occasionally scratch them in confusion.
Things took a turn for the worse when it stopped eating and began having seizures, and at one point, it even stopped breathing…
Worried sick, the couple rushed the kitten to the vet, only to receive shocking news: the kitten had rabies!
Tragically, the kitten passed away the next day. The autopsy confirmed it was infected with a rare, lethal form of rabies carried by raccoons.
Raccoon rabies, a deadly strain usually unheard of in Nebraska and typically found in raccoons in the Appalachians, over 800 miles away, raised a critical question: how did it get to Omaha?
The discovery sent local health officials into high alert. They declared a citywide emergency in Omaha to prevent the spread of this deadly virus.
Simultaneously, they updated the public on social media, and volunteers started a door-to-door search for anyone who might have come into contact with the kitten, gathering information about its family too.
The situation caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Chipman expressed concern, noting it was the most severe rabies outbreak in the U.S. in two decades.
Specialists in wildlife from all over the country were dispatched to Omaha, equipped with traps and vaccines, ready to undertake a significant effort to trap raccoons.
The team managed to capture 753 raccoons, 41 skunks, 4 wild cats, and a red fox, vaccinating them against rabies before releasing them back into the wild.
They also examined over 250 raccoon carcasses, but thankfully, none tested positive for rabies.
Despite these measures, local authorities and experts remained vigilant, planning to keep a close watch on the raccoon population in Omaha until the threat of raccoon rabies was completely eliminated.
As of now, the source of the kitten’s infection remains a mystery. It’s suspected that it could have been bitten by an infected animal, or perhaps its mother was a carrier of the raccoon rabies virus.
This incident with a single calico kitten led to significant concern in the U.S., particularly in Omaha, highlighting the importance of vigilance against such diseases.
Fortunately, the couple’s decision to adopt the kitten brought the issue to light, potentially averting a much more dire situation.
Some believe that through its ordeal, the calico kitten was delivering a crucial message.
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