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  • USA Wildlife Removal Education Guide - Diseases Skunks Carry

Diseases Skunks Carry

When there’s a skunk in the neighborhood it’s hard not to know about it. The powerful scent that follows them as they move about is usually enough to convince other animals, including people, to leave them alone. And well they should: skunks are not just little stinkers; they are also known to carry a number of diseases that are dangerous to humans and to both domesticated and other wild animals.



Transmission can occur in multiple ways: from bugs that have bitten an infected animal; from handling or ingesting food or water contaminated by skunk feces; or directly from bites or scratches of an infected animal.

The most widely feared among these perils is rabies, a severe viral disease that affects the central nervous system of warm-blooded animals. Skunks are the Number Two carrier of the rabies virus, accounting for almost 30 percent of reported cases. It is estimated that rabies is responsible for some 55,000 deaths annually worldwide. Recovery is possible but treatment is a long and painful process.

Infected skunks are sometimes unusually aggressive: chasing, biting, clawing and generally representing danger to people and pets. At the other end of the behavior spectrum, they may appear confused and lethargic, wandering in circles and approaching people and pets without fear.

Another serious ailment that is easy to catch is Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that is most commonly passed to humans through water, soil or food that has been contaminated by the urine of an infected animal. The bacterium can also be communicated in other ways, for example through swimming in infected water. Flu-like symptoms are most common, with jaundice, kidney or liver failure and ultimately death in the most severe cases.

Along with these are a number of relatively common afflictions traceable to parasites, such as toxoplamosis and giardiasis. The former manifests with flu-like symptoms and while it ultimately disappears, it can reoccur. Giardiasis causes diarrhea and while a serious problem, it goes away either on its own or under treatment.

Several viral ailments can also be carried by skunks and passed along to humans. Among these are distemper, which causes several physical problems and which in its most severe form can be fatal; canine hepatitis, which attacks the liver; parvovirus, which causes fever, chills and diarrhea; feline panleukopenia, which is similar to parvo and which causes serious and usually bloody diarrhea, severe dehydration, malnutrition, and anemia.

In fact there are as many as s40 diseases that humans can contract directly or indirectly from skunks. As with other wildlife, the animals are best left to themselves.

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