Second calf tests positive for rabies on farm in Perth County
New case restarts 40 day confinement period for animals on beef cattle farm
A second calf on a beef cattle farm in Perth County has tested positive for rabies, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture says.
Lead veterinarian Maureen Anderson said the dead calf was shipped to the ministry on Jan. 26 and tested positive on Jan. 27.
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No animals on the farm have been allowed to leave the property since since another calf tested positive for rabies earlier this month.
Anderson said a new 40 day confinement period would restart on the day the second rabid calf was removed from the property.
"No other animals are showing signs at this point," she said. "So we are keeping an eye on everybody and no animals are moving off of that farm until the end of the 40 days."
The ministry suspects these two calves were infected with the rabies virus by a skunk, which the farmer said he smelled in the barn a few weeks prior to the first calf becoming sick.
"The main risk to the rest of the cattle is that that skunk may have bitten more than one of them," Anderson said, adding it is unlikely the virus will spread from one cow to another, because cows don't usually bite one another, and rabies is spread through saliva.
She encourages farmers to call the public health unit, their local veterinarian or the Ministry of Natural Resources if they see sick wildlife in the area.