Syracuse, NY — Only one person — a school-aged child — has come forward for treatment after being bitten by a rabid fox in Syracuse’s Eastwood neighborhood earlier this week, county health officials said.
That child reported the bites to a school nurse, who then referred the student for rabies treatments.
There are at least two other people believed to have been bitten by the fox Monday night in the area of Burnet Avenue, just north of Interstate 690. But there may be many more victims, said Dr. James Alexander, Onondaga County Health Department’s medical director.
Videos shared with Syracuse.com show one man being attacked on Burnet Avenue near Peat Street. Later in the same evening, a food delivery worker was also bitten after trying to deliver food in the area, officials said. A witness told Syracuse.com the attacks happened Tuesday night; health officials said the incidents were actually Monday night.
Anyone bitten by the rabid fox will have been exposed to rabies, which is virtually always fatal if not treated before symptoms develop, Alexander said in a conference all Friday morning.
“If someone does develop rabies disease, in almost every case, they are going to die,” Alexander said. “And it is a horrible, painful death.”
Anyone with contact with the fox, whether bitten or not, should get evaluated for treatment, Alexander said.
Once symptoms of rabies develop, it’s usually too late to save that person’s life, he added. That’s why treatments are started as soon as possible after the bite. Typically, it takes about 30 to 90 days to exhibit symptoms, but some cases have taken years to develop.
“Once you have the onset of symptoms, you will probably not survive,” Alexander said.
Symptoms can start with a feeling of pins and needles at the site of the wound, Alexander said. That means the disease has already entered your nervous symptom. It leads to weakness, headaches and other discomfort before progressing into a flown-blown neurological…
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