Stray kitten tests positive for rabies at Burlington County animal shelter

🐱 A stray kitten tested positive for rabies at the Burlington County animal shelter

🐱 Health officials believe it was infected before arriving at the shelter

🐱 Anyone who was in contact with the kitten should call a doctor

WESTAMPTON — A kitten housed at a South Jersey animal shelter has tested positive for rabies.

The animal was brought to the Burlington County Animal Shelter in Westampton on May 29 as a stray and was quarantined as part of the shelter’s normal procedures, the Burlington County Health Department announced. Officials said the kitten was found as a stray in Maple Shade.

During the quarantine period, the kitten showed no symptoms. On June 19, the kitten was cleared from quarantine and made available for adoption.

Then, five days later, on June 24, the animal began showing symptoms and was tested for rabies, health officials said.

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The test came back positive for rabies on June 26.

Two shelter employees who were exposed to the kitten received rabies vaccine boosters. Both employees had already been vaccinated per the shelter’s protocol that all employees be vaccinated as a preventive measure, county health officials stated.

The county health department is investigating other possible exposures to the kitten.
Anyone who visited the Burlington County Animal Shelter, 35 Academy Drive, between June 19 and June 24, and was bitten, scratched, or had contact with a brown and black colored kitten’s saliva, is encouraged to seek medical guidance immediately.

They should also notify the health department at 609-265-5548.

Health officials believe the kitten was infected before being brought to the animal shelter.

Rabies is a fatal viral disease that resides in the saliva of infected animals and is transmitted through a bite or when saliva from the infected animal comes into contact with broken skin, open wounds, the mouth, nose, or eyes.

Anyone with questions can also contact the shelter at 609-265-5073.

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