For the first time ever in Alaska, a moose has been found with rabies. Photo: Unsplash/Danika Perkinson
Rabies is not something you want to get. Drooling excessively through a locked jaw, stumbling around with rage in your heart, a gross infected bite mark festering somewhere on your body. And recently, a moose was found in Alaska suffering from it. It’s the first time the illness has ever been seen in a moose in Alaska.
The rabid moose was found on June 2, stumbling, drooling, and acting aggressively in and around the community of Teller. The Department Of Fish And Game had its suspicions, so they were forced to put it down.
“The moose was unbalanced, stumbling, drooling profusely, and had bare patches of skin,” said Doug Vincent-Lang, commissioner of the Alaska Department Of Fish And Game, in a statement. “Staff in Nome consulted with ADF&G wildlife veterinarian Dr. Kimberlee Beckmen and dispatched the animal that afternoon due to its aggressive behavior and signs suggestive of rabies disease.”
After the moose was euthanized, they performed a necropsy on it. When they looked it its brain tissues, their suspicions were confirmed. The variant of rabies the moose had contracted is generally found in Arctic foxes.
The Arctic fox population has seen a serious uptick in rabies cases over the past winter, and it is theorized that the moose likely was bitten by one. Although this is the first time a moose in Alaska has been found with rabies, it’s not the first time in the world.
“Rabies diagnoses in moose are rare, but there have been moose diagnosed with rabies in South Dakota, Minnesota, Canada and Russia,” continued Vincent-Lang. “In Alaska, only those moose with neurologic signs are screened for rabies (along with other potential causes of brain inflammation, such as Chronic Wasting Disease, parasite migrations, or toxicities).”
Moose, at least, are pretty solitary creatures. It’s unlikely that a serious outbreak will occur in the population in Alaska. Still, though, people are being warned to be on the lookout for moose that have the obvious signs.
