Rabid raccoon kills man in Moscow

In Moscow region 50-year old Vladimir Turskov died from the bite of a rabid raccoon. The man was rushed to the hospital, but all vital organs failed to work and the man died.

Photo: Rabid raccoon kills man in Moscow

The infection was developing rapidly. On Monday the man was feeling ok, he was responding to speech and light. But in the evening he started to feel worse. ‘Virus paralyzed central nervous system’, - says chief doctor of Tuchkovskaya hospital Vladimir Zubtsov. Unfortunately, there is still no cure for human rabies.

In late April Vladimir Turskov was resting with his friends outside of Moscow. When they were cooking shashlik, a raccoon came by. He wasn’t aggressive. Turskov decided to come closer to the animal and pet it. Suddenly raccoon bit Vladimir. The man in despair killed raccoon.

Later the dead body of the animal was taken for an expertise. Doctors there proved the animal rabid.

Vladimir ’s brother cries: ‘My brother didn’t miss a single anti-rabid immunization’. ‘He was ok until recently, and then he suddenly started to feel really bad’.

Statistics say that Moscow region is unfavorable in the spread of rabid animals’ virus. This case is the first one in this year, when a man died from the bite of a rabid animal. This virus is usually transported by mice, rats, foxes, wolves and raccoons. The most dangerous bite is when a person is bitten in the upper part of the body. Then the virus will penetrate to the central nervous system and then death is inevitable. Infected animals can be met not only in Moscow region, but in Moscow as well – animals can cover more than 60 miles.

Translated by Lena Ksandinova