rabies

The Brookline Health Department is warning residents to stay away from wild animals after a raccoon suspected of having rabies attacked a north Brookline resident's pet in daylight hours - a few weeks after a rabid raccoon was picked up in Jamaica Plain.

Two bats captured in Brookline also recently tested positive for rabies.

The Boston Public Health Commission reports a cat in the Mascot Street area tested positive for the potentially fatal disease.

In addition to the six people now receiving shots, the commission urges anybody who came into contact with a roughly 10-year-old orange cat there between Oct. 2 and 17 - or whose own pet tangled with the cat - to call 617-534-5611.

Public health officials say the case shows the importance of updating pet rabies shots - and of avoiding contact with wild animals:

Avoid any animal that is acting strange or sick. Do not keep wild animals as pets, touch, or pick up any dead animal. Do not attract wild animals to your house by feeding pets outside or leaving garbage cans open.

For more information about rabies, contact the Infectious Disease Bureau at 617-534-5611.

Karen Wise explains why her entire family is now getting rabies shots, not that she knows for a fact that the bat that was flying around in her house was rabid, since her husband let it fly out, when, as they now know, you're supposed to trap it somehow and let Animal Control test it for rabies.