Nine people had contact with infected pussy

**HiredGoon** · August 8th, 2008, 06:23 PM

9 had contact with rabid kitty
Friday, August 08, 2008
By Joe Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

County health officials say they now believe they have identified all the people -- nine in all -- who had contact with a kitten that tested positive for rabies.

Five adults and four children have come forward in response to an Allegheny County Health Department advisory, department spokesman Dave Zazac said today. Those people, all from the Verona and Penn Hills area, were evaluated for rabies exposure and will be treated with anti-rabies vaccine as a precaution, he said.

On Wednesday, health officials issued the advisory, saying a woman and children anonymously dropped off the sick kitten, about a month old, at an animal shelter.

Health officials believe a man found the orange and white tabby and gave it to a woman and her daughter. The woman turned it over to another woman to take to a shelter. Five other people, including three children, came in contact with the animal before it was delivered.

The department issued another alert on Monday after a long-haired, black stray cat with white chest markings bit a person in Bethel Park. That animal also tested positive for rabies and the person bitten is being treated with anti-rabies vaccine, officials said.

Rabies exposures typically occur through a break in the skin that comes in contact with an infected animal's saliva. The disease is almost always fatal when left untreated.

First published on August 8, 2008 at 2:18 pm