[farmbear]

We live on a small acreage and for the last 20 years have not had an issue with sick wildlife (skunks, foxes, raccoons,etc..) In fact we rarely see any raccoons nearer than 3/4 - 1 mile from our property near the irrigation ditches. This weekend we were exposed to a very sick raccoon - he was disoriented, would go into seizures at which time he would stand on his back legs and then would fall over and seize (paddling the feet, snapping the jaw and the tail constricting). He was not aggressive in the least (actually seemed as though he was "looking" for help - sorry the animal lover in me), he was not foaming either. He was in no way afraid of the neighborhood dogs or humans. As ranchers we feel that it is our duty to be custodians to the land and animals in our care and the wildlife we come in contact with - this animal was suffering and we felt that we had to end its suffering in the most humane way possible. Upon reviewing symptoms of possible infections (first to come to mind would be rabies and distemper) we did not really feel that rabies was the issue - we leaned more towards distemper After appropriately disposing of the carcus, we removed several layers of soil where the animal was put down and thoroughly coated that area and all areas of our fence line where the animal had walked, seized, etc.. with a very strong water and exterior bleach solution. Neither our animals or ourselves were any closer to the animal when it was alive than 8-10 feet, and our animals have been vaccinated (though it was a couple of years ago) for distemper We also kept our animals out of the disinfected areas for 24hours.

My question is - Do I need to be concerned of infection after taking these actions?

Just to qualify our actions - taking the life of an animal is not something we do lightly. We live in a state where the land is still considered open range, and in these cases neither local authorities nor state game/wildlife authorities will come out on a "call". It is left to the land owner to take whatever action he/she feels is necessary. Obviously the best action was to end this animals suffering.
Thank you in advance for your comments.

[Daveyo]

Hi I am Daveyo

To answer your question, the answer is no. You have exercised good practice. Just make sure you folks have had your measles shots prior to meeting an animal with Distemper. Why, because you will get the measles!!!!! Yes the disease is airborne and contact type. Distemper is a form of measles if you like to know and the DNA and the Genome sequences are identical. If your an adult and get the measles, it will be quite painful indeed and you can develop serious complications as well. Trust me. The common notion of why everybody wants measles when a kid and of their answers which variate is an old folks tale. However, that theory is dangerous. Measles is indeed a very deadly disease, and these people have no idea that you can develop Multiple Sclerosis later on in life by wanting to get the measles as a kid. Yes, Canine Distemper=Measles=Multiple Sclerosis= Encephalitis. You want to know more just drop a note here.

There is a full cure now for Distemper for any animal that has this Disease. A retired VET and I have found all the answers and it has been a total success. The cure rate speed for this disease is 24 hours both for the body and for the CNS. You can find all the information if you wish at my site at [moderator note: website address has been removed] There are pics of this disease and information concerning this disease in detail and the medical cure protocol as well. You can probably handle the body portion but when getting to the CNS portion it will require a experienced VET or Neurologist to administer the CSF tap to cure the cerebral area. The vaccine known as NDV of the LaSorta strain cannot cross the blood brain barrier so the CNS area has to be done manually.

Hope my information helps you

Daveyo