Animal Bite & Wildlife Resources

Animal Bites

The Environmental Health Program provides follow-up on quarantines issued by law enforcement for 50-75 animal bites per year.  Experience with rabies infection has resulted in very strict laws on vaccinating pets against this fatal disease. Keep your pets up-to-date on their rabies vaccinations to help eliminate this disease in the state and avoid costly quarantines if your pet is involved in biting incidents.  Maintain a safe distance from wild animals to help reduce the risk of bites.  Wild animal bites should also be reported to law enforcement. Besides dogs and cats, we have seen bites involving squirrels, muskrats, bats, bear, cows, horses, donkeys, mice and raccoons in our county. When available, samples taken for analysis are sent to the state lab to be tested for signs of rabies.

For more information, follow up with the links below.


Wildlife 

Bats­
Rabies is a viral disease affecting the central nervous system. The last four cases of human rabies in Wisconsin occurred in 1959, 2000, 2004, and 2010. All four Wisconsin cases acquired the disease from infected bats. There have been bats tested in Dunn County that were found to have rabies in previous years. If you encounter a bat and you’re unsure if it’s bitten you, try to safety capture the bat that doesn’t put you at risk for future bites. Once the bat is contained, contact Dunn County Health Department or a physician for consultation. Exposures to bats are extremely concerning because some people with very minor exposures to bats have contracted rabies. Please do not bring bats to the health department.

For more information,

Dead Birds

As of January 2020, the Division of Public Health no longer collects dead birds for West Nile Virus testing. Due to this change, the Dead Bird Reporting Hotline (800-433-1610) has been disconnected. If you find a dead bird, please refer to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Health Program for instructions. Do not handle dead animals with your bare hands and do not bring dead birds to the Dunn County Health Department.

For more information - https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/mosquito/wnv-about.htm