Several people are being treated for possible exposure to rabies after a stray kitten taken in by an East Barre family turned out to be rabid.
Dr. Robert Johnson, a veterinarian with the state Health Department, says officials are urging anyone else who may have come in contact with the kitten in the latter half of September to call the state’s rabies hot line at 1-800-4-RABIES.
The kitten was caught in a Havahart trap on September 22, became sick October 1 and died this past week.
Johnson says the animal was male, black and white and about three months old.
Rabies, which is mainly transmitted through biting, is a fatal viral illness that can attack both animals and humans. Bats, foxes, raccoons, skunks and woodchucks are the most common carriers of the disease.