Alaska News

Rabid village dog put down

A husky-mix dog that tested positive for rabies after biting its trainer was euthanized in Anchorage on Sunday, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

The animal had been transported to the city on Feb. 16 from an unnamed village in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta after a rabid fox there bit several dogs, state officials said.

A village public safety officer euthanized dogs in the village that appeared to be infected by the fox, but the husky-mix showed no sign of having been bit and was transferred to Anchorage as part of a rescue mission.

Last Friday, however, the dog bit its trainer and was impounded the next day by an Anchorage animal control team.

After it tested positive, the dog's trainer and five other people who had close contact with the animal were scheduled to receive shots to prevent rabies.

State and city officials, as well as the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., have since disinfected all areas where the dog was known to have been present.

The case marked the first time in 17 years that a dog from rural Alaska has been transported to Anchorage and later found to have rabies, state officials said.

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Find George Bryson online at adn.com/contact/gbryson or call 257-4318.

By GEORGE BRYSON

gbryson@adn.com

George Bryson

George Bryson was a longtime writer and editor at the Anchorage Daily News.

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