Three injured as rabid fox attacks two families

Three children are nursing injuries after a fox attacked two families in Solo ‘C’ Village, Western Division, Busia Municipality.
 
The fox attacked the first family at around 10 pm on Monday, biting Amisi Dhikusooka, 12, and Dauson Mugwabi, 13, before moving to the second home, where it severely injured three-year-old Miracle Akol.
 
Mr Silver Kirya, the father to Dhikusooka and Mugwabi, said the fox pounced through a door that had been left open as they had supper. 
“We were having supper, when suddenly, ‘an animal that looks like a dog’ entered and attacked us,” he said.

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He said the fox first bit Mugwabi on his right foot, and as the family scampered for safety, Dhikusooka was also attacked and bitten on the thigh, before the fox slipped into the night and attacked the second home.
 
Ms Christine Namuzaala, the mother of Akol, said her daughter had walked from the verandah to ease herself when she was attacked by the fox.
 
“I tried to rescue my baby but the animal was too fierce and wanted to attack me too,” she said, adding that her loud cry attracted her husband who got hold of a big stick and killed it.
 
Doctors at Busia Veterinary Laboratory later extracted the fox’s brain matter and subjected it to a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) which tested positive for rabies, a vaccine-preventable zoonotic disease that is transmitted from animals to humans.
 
“This fox was rabid as tests we have carried out have proved so,” Dr Wycliffe Walumbe, a veterinary officer, said, adding that the victims were immediately referred to Busia Health Centre IV for post-exposure anti-rabies treatment.
 
Initial symptoms of rabies include fever, pain and unusual or unexplained tingling, pricking, or burning sensations at the wound site; but as the virus moves to the central nervous system, progressive and fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord develops.
 
Dr Walumbe, however, said Akol suffered severe injuries in “very delicate body parts”, including the face, head, and ear.
 
The Senior District Veterinary Officer, Dr Patrick Barasa, said whereas they have been recording dog and cat bites, bites involving foxes, jackals, civet cats, and mongoose were on an upward trend.
 
He added that over the past week, six people have been attacked and bitten by jackals and foxes in Lunyo sub-county and Solo ‘C’ village, Western Division.
 
Other cases reported, he said, were of an attack by a civet cat on three people in Busumba village, Dabani sub-county, and fox attack on one person in the same area.
 
The Busia District Natural Resources Officer, Mr Jimmy Ngolobe, blames the attacks on encroachment on swamps and forests which used to be habitats for the wild animals, adding that heavy rains have left swamps flooded, pushing animals towards people’s homes.