(PresidentialHill.com)- After a woman walked into a North Dakota bar carrying a raccoon, state health officials issued a warning about the risk of rabies exposure for anyone who may have had contact with the animal.
Recently, a woman walked into the Maddock Bar in Maddock, North Dakota during happy hour carrying a raccoon in her arms. The bartender, Cindy Smith, told The Bismarck Tribune that she immediately told the woman to leave. But rather than leaving, the woman showed off the raccoon to another customer at the bar. Smith was unable to get her to leave for nearly five minutes.
Smith said the woman kept hold of the raccoon the whole time and nobody was bitten.
In an alert issued last Tuesday, North Dakota’s Department of Health and Human Services urged anyone who may have been bitten or even in contact with the raccoon’s saliva to seek medical care immediately.
Rabies is a serious viral infection with a nearly 100 percent fatality rate that affects mammals including humans.
So far this year, six rabid animals have been reported in North Dakota, including two bats, one bovine, one skunk, and two cats.
