'Stumbling, drooling' moose tests positive for rabies in Alaska, a state first
Officials in Alaska this week confirmed a moose seen acting aggressively towards people tested positive for rabies, a first in state history.
The state’s Department of Fish and Game announced it killed the moose after it was seen wandering through the community of Teller in Western Alaska and charging people.
The moose was "unbalanced, stumbling, drooling profusely, and had bare patches of skin," the agency wrote in a press release issued Wednesday.
Fish and Game staff said it consulted with the department's wildlife veterinarian Dr. Kimberlee Beckmen, collected samples from the moose, sent them for testing and burned the animal's body as a precaution.
Golden State wolverine sighting Wolverine spotted in California, the state's 2nd sighting in last 100 years, officials say
Necropsy reveals moose was rabid
During a necropsy Monday, the Alaska State Virology Laboratory detected rabies in the moose's brain and the following day, according to the release, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention further confirmed the virus was "an Arctic Fox rabies variant."
"This is the same variant circulating in red foxes during the outbreak in the Nome/Seward Peninsula and North Slope arctic foxes this past winter, suggesting the moose contracted the virus from a fox," Fish and Game officials said.
The case, officials added, marked the first confirmed report of rabies in a moose in the state.
A first for Alaska
According to Fish and Game officials, a rabies diagnosis in a moose is rare, but there have been moose confirmed with rabies in South Dakota, Minnesota, Canada and Russia.
In Alaska, officials said, only those moose with neurologic signs are screened for rabies.
Woman uses ax to fend off rabid fox Daughter uses ax, shovel to attack rabid fox biting her mom
Increased rabies testing
Because of the new case, Fish and Game officials said they plan to amp rabies surveillance by testing all brain samples from mammals found dead or euthanized from regions with enzootic fox rabies.
People who find a dead mammal or see one showing signs of rabies (excessive salivation, abnormal or aggressive behavior, and bite marks) should not approach the carcass or animal.
"Due to the largely solitary nature of moose, it is very unlikely that any rabies outbreak will occur in themoose population, but isolated cases such as this one occur rarely," the release reads.
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rabid moose found in Alaska, a first for the state
