Multiple people treated after rabies found in skunk in Kootenay Lake region of B.C.

Multiple people treated after rabies found in skunk in Kootenay Lake region of B.C.

Anyone who was scratched or bitten by skunks in the area should seek immediate medical care, officials say

Interior Health says multiple people have been treated after being exposed to a skunk with rabies in the Kootenay Lake region of B.C.

The health authority is warning that anyone else who may have been exposed to the disease should seek immediate emergency medical care. The skunk in question is believed to have been infectious between Aug. 15 and Sept. 4.

Rabies spreads through scratches and bites, Interior Health says, and is not transmitted through exposure to spray, urine or feces.

Any animals that may have come into contact with a skunk in the area should also be taken to a vet for care and testing, Interior Health adds.

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"Rabies infections in people are extremely rare in B.C. and Canada. Infections are usually fatal, but preventable when vaccines are administered promptly after an exposure," the health authority says in a news release.