A New Brunswick woman has been treated for rabies after a rat bit her on the hand.
Christine Lannamann told CTV Atlantic that she was busy putting rat poison around her barn in Waweig, N.B., about 22 kilometres north of Saint Andrews, last week when she noticed a rat lying on the ground. Believing it to be dead, Lannamann picked up the rat by its tail.
“I started to walk down the alleyway and it just comes to, swings around, bites me on the knuckle and scratches my finger,” she said on Tuesday. “I dropped it and it started running in half-moon shapes, which is not normal.”
Lannamann said she immediately visited the doctor because there have already been three confirmed cases of rabies in animals in the community this year. She was given shots to protect her from the virus.
New Brunswick has been struggling with animal rabies for two decades. In the past three years, there have been 30 confirmed cases of the virus in animals with the majority being found in raccoons and skunks.
Lannamann said she thinks the provincial government should intervene to help residents deal with the problem, but a spokesperson for the province’s natural resources department told CTV Atlantic that it’s the home owner’s responsibility to manage rodents on their properties.
With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron
