Rabid fox attacks Richmond County resident

Rabid fox
Rabid fox(MGN)
Published: Jun. 16, 2022 at 3:42 PM EDT
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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A Richmond County resident was attacked by a fox when it was passing through the victim’s yard June 9 in the Lake Olmstead area of Augusta, authorities said.

Augusta Animal Services responded to the scene and collected the fox.

The Richmond County Health Department Environmental Health Section was notified and sent the fox to the Georgia Public Health Laboratory in Decatur for rabies testing. Test results confirmed the fox was positive for rabies.

Additionally, the Richmond County Health Department’s Environmental Health Section is notifying residents in the area to avoid contact with wild animals.

The Richmond County Health Department Environmental Health Section recommends the following:

  • Make sure your dogs and cats are currently vaccinated against rabies.
  • Do not let your pets roam free. They are more likely to have contact with a rabid wild animal.
  • Avoid feeding your animals outside. This draws stray and wild animals to your doorstep.
  • Teach your children not to approach wild animals and animals they don’t know.

The Richmond County Health Department Environmental Health Section is asking all residents to make sure pets are vaccinated against rabies and to avoid all contact with wild animals.

In addition, report any contact of humans and domestic animals with wild animals to Richmond County Health Department Environmental Health Section office at 706-667-4234 or Augusta Animal Services at 706-790-6836.

Across the river in South Carolina

Meanwhile, South Carolina officials sent out an email urging residents not to keep wild animals as pets.

“Wild animals live in nature and are not domesticated, meaning they’re not tame or kept as a pet or on a farm,” the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said Thursday in a statement, “Keeping wild animals as pets in some cases may be illegal, and puts the owner and others who encounter the animal at risk of injury or getting diseases such as rabies.”

The agencies recommend that you protect yourself and others from rabies by:

  • Leaving wildlife alone and not keeping wild animals as “pets.”
  • Not approaching an animal in need. Contact a wildlife rehabilitator for the type of animal in need. Deer, fox, and coyote rehabilitators require a special permit issued by SCDNR. A registry of rehabilitators, maintained by SCDNR, is available here.
  • Contacting your local animal control for stray and feral cats and dogs, a wildlife control operator for nuisance wildlife, or a wildlife rehabilitator for sick and injured wildlife.
  • Never touching wild or stray animals with your bare hands.
  • Vaccinating pets and livestock against rabies. By law, all dogs, cats, and ferrets must be vaccinated. You can find low-cost rabies vaccination clinics here. It’s also recommended that livestock receive their rabies vaccinations, as well.

In South Carolina, the most common animals to test positive for rabies are wild animals, such as raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that a skunk, raccoon, fox, or bat that bites someone should be euthanized and tested for rabies as soon as possible.

While cats and dogs may be able to undergo quarantined observation for a specific time period to determine whether they contracted rabies, holding wild animals for observation isn’t a safe option because it’s not known how long it takes for rabies symptoms to appear in different types of wild animals.

And since there is no approved rabies vaccine for wild animals kept as pets, even vaccinated wild animals will be treated as unvaccinated.

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