Rabies detec­ted again

The rabies virus has been detec­ted in an arc­tic fox, accor­ding to a state­ment from the Sys­sel­mes­ter. The fox was kil­led last Mon­day (5 May) in Pyra­mi­den after it had attrac­ted atten­ti­on due to its abnor­mal beha­viour.

Polar fox.

Rabies occurs in Sval­bard from time to time with breaks of seve­ral years, most recent­ly in 2018. The virus pro­ba­b­ly comes to Sval­bard with infec­ted arc­tic foxes that migra­te long distances over the ice, wit­hout being able to estab­lish its­elf the­re per­ma­nent­ly. The dise­a­se is also fatal for humans, so cau­ti­on is advi­sed with ani­mal car­cas­ses and also with live ani­mals. Both should sim­ply not be touch­ed – one more good reason not to be bit­ten by polar bears.

The fox in Pyra­mi­den is so far the only recent case in which the rabies virus has been detec­ted.

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