Volume 16, Number 2—February 2010
Letter
Aggression and Rabid Coyotes, Massachusetts, USA
Xingtai Wang
, Catherine M. Brown, Sandra Smole, Barbara G. Werner, Linda Han, Michael Farris, and Alfred DeMaria
, Catherine M. Brown, Sandra Smole, Barbara G. Werner, Linda Han, Michael Farris, and Alfred DeMariaTable
Reported signs of disease in 111 coyotes submitted for rabies testing, Massachusetts, USA, 1985–2008*
| Clinical sign | Total no. (%) | DFA result |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Negative | Unsatisfactory | ||
| Aggression | ||||
| No | 100 (90.1) | 4 | 92 | 4 |
| Yes |
11 (9.9) |
6 |
5 |
0 |
| Ataxia | ||||
| No | 109 (98.2) | 10 | 95 | 4 |
| Yes |
2 (1.8) |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| Disorientation | ||||
| No | 94 (84.7) | 8 | 83 | 3 |
| Yes |
17 (15.3) |
2 |
14 |
1 |
| Found dead | ||||
| No | 96 (86.5) | 8 | 86 | 2 |
| Yes |
15 (13.5) |
2 |
11 |
2 |
| Lethargy | ||||
| No | 96 (86.5) | 10 | 83 | 3 |
| Yes |
15 (13.5) |
0 |
14 |
1 |
| Paralysis | ||||
| No | 106 (95.5) | 10 | 92 | 4 |
| Yes |
5 (4.5) |
0 |
5 |
0 |
| Salivation | ||||
| No | 108 (97.3) | 9 | 95 | 4 |
| Yes |
3 (2.7) |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Seizures | ||||
| No | 109 (98.2) | 9 | 96 | 4 |
| Yes |
2 (1.8) |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Wound of unknown origin | ||||
| No | 98 (88.3) | 10 | 84 | 4 |
| Yes | 13 (11.7) | 0 | 13 | 0 |
*DFA, direct fluorescence antibody; unsatisfactory, not tested because of decomposed brain tissue; no, not observed or unknown.
