Point Reyes Light - December 14, 2000
Distemper plagues West Marin’s raccoons
By Stephen Barrett
A distemper epidemic in Marin’s raccoon population has descended on Point Reyes Station, where about 15 sick raccoons have been picked up by the Marin Humane Society in the last month, said Capt. Cindy Machado, the humane society’s director of field services.
Raccoons infected with the canine distemper virus sometimes become disoriented and come out during daylight hours, Machado said. (Indeed, staggering raccoons have been reported in Point Reyes Station’s downtown). Physical symptoms include running or crusty eyes, diarrhea, weight loss and lethargy. The disease is usually fatal to raccoons.
Canine distemper can spread between raccoons, foxes, skunks, coyotes, and dogs, said Machado, who encouraged pet owners to get their animals vaccinated. Rather than trapping and relocating troublesome raccoons, she said, residents should report them to the Marin Humane Society "anytime day or night."
Dogs & cats
Distemper is spread by contact with infected animals, especially their secretions. The virus affecting raccoons appears to be canine distemper, Machado said, although the nocturnal mammals are also susceptible to the feline distemper virus.
The disease has been reported widely this year, with large outbreaks in the raccoon populations of Novato and Fairfax, Machado said. She estimated that it has made a "significant dent" in the county’s raccoon population though she conceded no one knows how many raccoons actually live in Marin.
"We’ve had bouts of this distemper in various parts of the county," she said. "It’s interesting to see where it appears next."
Most of the raccoons picked up for distemper have been too sick for rehabilitation, said Coral Cotten, the raccoon team manager at Wildcare, a wildlife rehabilitation center in San Rafael. Cotten said it is natural for distemper to strike the raccoon population every three to five years.
"That’s just nature’s way of thinning out the least fittest, the least likely to survive," she said.
Disease on the move
However, Cotten said the tendency this year for distemper to appear in distant parts of the county suggests that humans are also contributing to its spread by relocating sick animals within Marin.
Dr. Mary Whitney, a veterinarian at the Point Reyes Animal Hospital, said no cases of distemper have been brought to her this year by pet owners, mainly because most dogs are regularly vaccinated against it.
Puppies between three and six months old are most susceptible to the virus, she said. She added that veterinarians can only offer supportive treatment for distemper. There is no cure.