Three people have been treated for rabies exposure after coming in contact with a stray cat that recently was confirmed as having contracted raccoon rabies, the regional health board for the South Shore of Montreal said Thursday. On Wednesday, Quebec confirmed the first case of the disease in a cat in Godmanchester, in Quebec’s Montérégie region, prompting officials to urge pet owners to keep their animals’ vaccinations up to date. A day later, Santé Québec Montérégie-Centre confirmed to CTV News that three people received post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent the disease — which can be fatal in humans if left untreated — from developing. “That is why we wish to emphasize how important it is for anyone who has been bitten, scratched, or come into contact with the saliva of a suspected rabid animal to wash the affected skin for 15 minutes and call Info-Santé on 811 without delay so that preventive treatment can be administered,” the health board said in a statement. The emergency treatment given immediately after exposure is almost 100 per cent effective. Dr. Michael Libman, professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and a member of the Centre for Tropical Diseases at McGill University, said rabies in cats and dogs is quite rare. “Nevertheless, it’s a lethal disease and it’s probably safer not to play with animals that you don’t know,” Libman said. “No matter how rare it is, the disease itself is uniformly lethal and there is no treatment. So you have to go and seek out an assessment whether you have a risk or not and then, if it’s judged that you have a risk, then there’s a series of vaccinations that you need to get.” Santé Québec Montérégie-Centre is urging everyone to avoid contact with wild or unfamiliar animals, even if they appear harmless. Raccoon rabies has been on the rise in Quebec this year. Since Jan. 1, Quebec has recorded 118 cases of raccoon rabies and four cases of bat rabies. The province recorded 93 raccoon rabies cases for all of 2025. With files from CTV News’ Max Harrold
