DIXFIELD — Six members of the Milledge family are getting rabies shots after their dogs were exposed to a diseased skunk and the family petted their coats covered with saliva.

Jamie and Nancy Milledge were hosting a birthday party at their home on Hall Hill on Jan. 8 when a skunk came into their backyard, Jamie Milledge said. They attempted to get their boxer named Sydnie and Yorkshire cocker spaniel mix named Dallas in the house, but the skunk approached the boxer and an altercation ensued, he said.

The skunk, which had no fear of the dogs, walked sideways and didn’t spray, was chased with a broom into the woods, Milledge said. When it came back he killed it with a gun.

Testing at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the skunk was carrying the rabies virus, Milledge said.

The dogs were up-to-date on their rabies vaccinations, but because saliva from the skunk was on their coats and everyone patted them after the fight, they were advised to get rabies shots as a precaution, he said.

The couple, their daughters Lindsey, 23, and Riley, 15, Lindsey’s fiance Chris Gauvin and Nancy’s sister Natalie Putnam each have one last injection to be administered this week, Jamie Milledge said.

“I didn’t even know you could get the disease from saliva,” he said.

State epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Sears said when skin is exposed to an infected animal’s saliva the virus can enter the body through cuts and scrapes or through mucus membranes in the mouth or eyes. The virus can only live a short time outside an animal or human body so the exposure has to be recent to pose a threat, he said.

Milledge said the side effects have taken a toll on their bodies.

“Everyone has been having body aches and I have had some bad headaches,” he said.

Side effects include joint pain, headaches and dizziness, Sears said. “By and large most people tolerate the shots pretty well,” he said.

Milledge said his dogs also received a booster shot at the office of Dr. Fredrick Kent, a 37-year veterinarian and owner of Countryside Animal Hospital in Rumford.

Kent said some animals can carry the virus and show no signs so his advice is to avoid close contact with any wildlife, keep animals up-to-date on rabies vaccinations and have them get a booster shot if contact with a rabid animal is suspected, even if their rabies vaccination is current.

“Some people with indoor cats think they do not have to bother with the shots,” he said. “But when an infected bat or rodent enters the home the cat can be at risk.”

ecox@sunjournal.com

65 confirmed cases of rabies in 2011

DIXFIELD — There were 65 confirmed cases of rabies in Maine last year, eight of them in Oxford County, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Augusta.

Cumberland County had the largest number: 20 in 2011.

State epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Sears said the number of cases could be much higher because some wildlife may never be found before they die from the disease. He attributed some of the increase in number of cases to the mild winter and lack of significant snowfall that mean animals are roaming and not hibernating.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture does live bait drops to prevent the spread of the disease, he said.

“What they do is drop bait that has a vaccine added to it and when wildlife comes in to eat the bait they ingest the vaccine also,” he said.