New York City – A rare, deadly disease that has left an infant brain damaged and a teenager blind in one eye, has been detected in Brooklyn, the Daily News has learned.
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The city’s Department of Health is on alert for Raccoon Ringworm, a disease contracted through contact with raccoon feces. It can cause permanent nerve damage and death.
“Parents should closely supervise small children in areas where raccoons live to prevent possible ingestion of raccoon feces,” said Sally Slavinski, of a Health Department unit that deals with diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans.
In the first case, a healthy infant who traveled to upstate New York last year started having seizures and spinal problems last October. The baby has been brain-damaged and hospitalized ever since.
Then, in January, a Brooklyn teen who hasn’t left the city recently, lost sight in the right eye.
Fewer than 30 cases of Raccoon Ringworm have been reported nationwide. It takes two to four weeks for symptoms, which include nausea, loss of coordination and muscle control, and blindness, to develop.
News of the disease, which strikes mostly kids and especially developmentally disabled children, sent shivers through city playgrounds.
“It’s terrifying. God only knows how I would react if my kids became that ill,” said Bay Ridge mom of two, Angelia Kane, 38.
“The concern for me would be kids being kids. I have a 3-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy. When they’re slightly out of sight, they’re going to pick up something in the course of their normal behavior and put their filthy hands in their mouths.”
With the swine flu outbreak, Kane’s kids have been washing their hands more often, but she said she won’t keep them from going to the playground.
“If you spend enough time reading about all the things kids can contract you don’t leave the house,” she said.
Still, Slavinski said parents should take other precautions.
“Raccoon feces should be removed using gloves and disposable bags, and placed in trash to keep from children,” she said.
Can we get any good news already???
U can see raccoons every night in boro park. On FT Hamilton pkwy by the cemetery (near BP & hess gas station)they run back & forth every night. hashem yishmor utanu.
Is there anything to do about the racoon infestation in Brooklyn? They’re all over Boro Park. Where do they live and is it legal to somehow trap and kill them? They are not cats!!! Racoons can be very dangerous. We didn’t have them years ago. How did they get here and how can we get them out of here?
you can see racoons running through boro park at all hours of the wee morning. they can be find throughout boro park, they aren’t confined to ft. hamilton, cemetaries or gas stations, i live close to thirteenth ave in the upper fifties and i have called 311 numerous times to report racoon citings. nothing has been done about it, to my knowledge. thank you environmentalists for putting racoons on the endagered species list!! we should sue them!!!
Plenty of Racoons in flatbush as well.
I had a huge racoon on my porch last month at 59th Street and 15th Ave in Boro Park.
Next time pick up the feces and mail it to 311, perhaps then action will be on it’s way.
I’ve seen a raccoon in Wili a couple of years ago. Any other news out there to scare the living sauls out of us?
To all the geinouses reading this These are NOT racoons but possums which are also dangerous. There are NO racoons in Brooklyn.
This is where a small caliber rifle comes in handy. If you can’t stomach shooting an animal (some people can’t), you can get traps for them. Here in FL we actually have a catch-and-release program… so long as they are not infected with any diseases. If they are, they euthanize them. You put traps out and then animal control comes and takes them from you once they are caught. People trap them in cities and suburban areas and they are released out in the wetlands. They will also take stray cats that way… Do they not have such programs in NY?
There are possums and raccoons n BP. Yes both of them.
#10
go to ur local ZOO and check out what a RACOON look like !!!! , i have seen them in Boro park (not the catskills or monsey )on 51st (14th and 15thave), i have seen them on 56st (15-16avenues), the only thing we are missing is Deer, LOL
#10 they are racoons alright. You are obviously not the genius you profess to be. We need to make a bigger ruckus about this and maybe we can rid ourselves of this danger. If I want to live among wild animals, I’d move upstate. I chose to live in the city to be away from these nuisences. What’s next, black bears walking down the streets of Boro Park? Where’s Hikind or Felder on this? Do we need a tragedy R”L before action gets taken?
first the swine, now the racoon?
Raccoons are nocturnal animals. They’re never around by day. If you see one in t;he daytime, that means it is sick, most likely with rabies, and very dangerous-call the police immediately.
Forgetting local laws about fire arms and hunting, It is illegal (federal) to kill most fur bearing animals (that includes skunks) as a result of animal wacko inspired legislation. You can trap them and release them elsewhere which just helps to spread disease if they’re infected.
This is very serious! I personally know the family of that infant. It’s terrible to watch a heimishe family going to the country and coming home with a sick child!
The boy is brain damaged and needs a big Refuah..
We grew up with these racoons in our shtetel in upstate NY.. There was nothing more exciting for us kinderlech to wake up in the morning and find our big garbage containers full of them! Sometimes 10 at a time.. We closed the lid on them, poured some bleach in, and then the fun started.. We shook the big container up & down.. They made such noises.. We had a good time..
Opossums do not look anything like racoons. They have a long pointy snout and a long ratlike tail. They are also nocturnal, but, I don’t think they are particularly dangerous. Racoons can definitely inhabit areas of Brooklyn. They like to get into garbage pails, looking for food. Keep your garbage pails securely closed.
with all this crazy Neurishkite……what would Noach say……just think the black stray cats before Pesach, the blackout during Chol HaMoed in the White House, this crazy swine flu, the crazy earthquakes…….Moshiach is definatley coming momentarally…….
Still confused; Where do these racoons call home? Where are they sleeping during the day?
Are there other areas that have raccoons etc or only Jewish areas? Some people feel it is interesting that they are what seems at the moment to be predominantly in Jewish areas. Did some one bring a bunch of them and drop them off in Brooklyn? Otherwise how did they get here?
I have raccoons in my attic an walls and now on my porch peepin in my window. I’m scared I smell odors also
I’ve seen a raccoon on 14th Ave and a possum in Kensington.
I’ve seen them walking a tightrope across telephone wires in back of my house. I was sitting on my back porch on a late Shabbos afternoon. It was awful!
Start making shtreimels from raccoon fur!
If you have raccoons on your roof, they must be climbing up something to get there. If it is a tree, cut or trim it. Also, I think they don’t like to be near lights. If you had a bright light there that might help.
Also, make sure you are not feeding them, be careful with your garbage.
They are a problem and people should not let them get in their houses, where they can cause serious damage, chas vesholom. It’s one thing if they are outside, they normally do not bother people, are afraid of them, and only come out at night. But if they try to move inside, they should be stopped ASAP.
this is a REAL thing-i know the baby. be careful if your children play outside and tend to put dirt in their mouths! Hakadosh Baruch Hu should put an end to all of these horrible things b’karov mamish