A 17-year-old boy and a pet cat apparently were scratched by the same rabid cat that bit three people last week in a Shaler supermarket, Allegheny County Health Department officials said Wednesday.
The rabid stray was caught after it wandered inside the Shaler Shop 'n Save on Butler Street and bit three people on June 8, health department spokesman Guillermo Cole said. It was destroyed so that its brain could be examined to confirm rabies.
Cole said the three people who were bitten and the 17-year-old are undergoing a series of vaccinations and should be in no danger.
He also said the pet cat, which already had received its rabies vaccinations, was given a booster shot. Cole said the pet is not expected to be in danger, but will be quarantined as a precaution at its owner's home for 90 days.
Cole said the 17-year-old was scratched when he tried to pet a stray black cat that was wearing a collar. The pet cat was scratched when it got into a fight with a stray. In both cases, the description of the stray matches the description of the rabid cat.
Both cases happened in the days before the Shop 'n Save incident and within walking distance of the store, Cole said.
He reminds anyone who is scratched or bitten by an animal to immediately seek medical attention and to notify county health officials so they can quarantine the animal.
