Rabies scare leads to video for training

The captain’s experience changed policy and was a
factor in deciding to make a training video.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

NORTH LIMA — Retired Struthers Police Capt. Edward J. Villone felt some moisture hit his face when he shot a sick raccoon at close range with the department’s .22-caliber rifle.

His first shot hit the raccoon in the body, but it was still moving and the resident wanted it to be shot again, so Villone moved to within a couple of feet and shot the animal in the head. That’s when he was splattered with blood.

It was the morning of July 24, 2004, when the event occurred, and Villone said he did not immediately pay much attention, thinking it probably was moisture from the trees.

After he had bagged the raccoon and returned to his cruiser he looked in the mirror and saw red spots on his face — and realized he had been hit by blood.

Then, he thought perhaps the blurred vision he had experienced in one eye may have been caused by the animal’s blood.

“I knew saliva could pass the rabies virus, but I didn’t know if it could be passed by blood,” Villone said Friday at Youngstown Elser-Metro Airport.

Health report

Villone reported the incident to the Struthers Health Department and was advised to undergo the series of shots to prevent his getting rabies, which he did. He said the shots gave him a temporary flulike feeling.

“If you develop rabies symptoms, you die. I had no idea at the time that it was that serious,” he said.

Villone’s experience resulted in a change in policy at the Struthers Police Department: Cruisers now carry goggles, rubber gloves and plastic bags in case officers have to handle and/or kill sick animals, he said.

Villone, who retired in 2006, was at the airport participating in a training video, being filmed by a crew from the Ohio Department of Health, for law enforcement officials on how to handle and dispose of suspected rabid animals.

His experience also played a factor in the making of the training video, which has also been requested by other law enforcement officials, said Kristopher Weiss, ODH spokesman. ODH will make the video available to law enforcement agencies when it is complete.

Villone, 46, relates his experience on the video, and Rick Setty, director of environmental health for the Mahoning County District Board of Health, was also filmed talking about precautions that law enforcement and others should take in handling sick animals, including keeping a safe distance and wearing protective gear.

The making of the video coincides with the annual distribution of baits in Northeast Ohio that orally vaccinate wild raccoons against rabies; and World Rabies today, established to promote rabies prevention awareness and education.

To control the spread of rabies associated with raccoons, Ohio has, since 1977, distributed oral rabies vaccine along the Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia border.

alcorn@vindy.com