Pitkin County shares animal bite exposure data for summer

This summer saw what officials are considering an “average” number of animal bites in Pitkin County, with vaccinations across the board helping mitigate disease.

Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office reported 17 bite calls since June 1.

“Of those 17 incidents, 15 were from vaccinated dogs, one was from a vaccinated cat, and one was from an unknown wild animal,” Emily Casebeer, Pitkin County community response officer, told The Aspen Times in an email.

Pitkin County Public Health reported 20 animal bite encounters this summer, some of which could be crossovers with Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office calls. According to Carlyn Porter, emergency response and epidemiology program administrator for Pitkin County, the public health exposures were a mix of domestic dog and cat bites, bat exposures, and a handful of mountain animals like a bear bite or scratch, a fox bite, and unidentified rodent bites. 

The majority of calls came from Aspen, then Basalt and Snowmass Village.

“It definitely was pretty Aspen-heavy this summer,” Porter said. 

For Pitkin County Public Health, she reported bat incidents were the most common, with 12 or more incidents consisting of a mix of bites, proximity calls, and “no exposure calls.” Public health issued five Post-Exposure Prophylaxis recommendations, or preventative medical treatment started after an exposure, for bat encounters. One bat tested positive for rabies in July.

“During the month of July, we started receiving calls about bats almost every day,” she said. 

Porter confirmed this is to be expected since July is when young bats are learning how to fly and many people report this behavior as an animal acting strangely. 

There was also one fox bite where the fox escaped and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis was recommended, one rodent bite where the rodent escaped and public health recommended a 14-day fever watch for hantavirus, tularemia, and the plague, and one bear bite of an out-of-county resident where the bear escaped.

“I haven’t really tracked the data like this before in the past,” she said. “I’ve never broken down the animal encounters.”

She is hoping to start creating a record that future years can be compared to in order to better understand long-term trends.

The key player in this summer’s incidents reported has been vaccinations. She emphasized that both vaccinations for humans and for pets have helped alleviate the toll diseases could take on the community.

“Vaccinating animals preventatively is really good practice for the community to keep up with,” Porter said. “When animals are up-to-date, that makes the quarantine and risk assessment process much easier.”

Snowmass Village reported three dog bite incidences this summer, which she highlighted as examples that the risk exists.

“It’s best to ask the owner before approaching domestic animals,” she said, “they can feel threatened and instinctively protect.”

Pitkin County requires rabies vaccination for dogs over six months old.

“It’s definitely a requirement of Pitkin County,” Casebeer previously told The Aspen Times.