MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A veterinarian who was attacked by a rabid raccoon claims that the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County isn't doing enough to keep the Kendall community safe.
Les Gerson said the rabid raccoon recently attacked him and his cat. He said he kicked the salivating and growling raccoon, but the animal got up and attacked him two more times.
Gerson said he wasn't hurt, but he took the precaution of getting four rabies shots.
"What upsets me is this is a human health hazard," Gerson told Local 10 News. "Almost 100 percent of the people (who) contract rabies will die."
The Department of Health issued a rabies alert from Southwest 88th Street south to Southwest 95th Street. But Gerson, who lives on the southern end of the alert area, said the area isn't big enough.
Gerson said he caught a raccoon in a trap on his property Friday, not far from the Kendall campus of Miami Dade College.
"I need to know why the boundary stops here, only goes a few blocks in either direction, when raccoons move over large areas, and the students at Miami Dade (College) need to be notified of the fact that they should be in a rabies quarantine area," Gerson said.
County health officials said the rabies alert area was established with the help of the state based on the information available to them at the time.