Rabid baby goats prompt North Carolina mobile petting zoo scare
"It's devastating," said petting zoo owner Misty Love.
At least three baby goats belonging to a North Carolina petting zoo have tested positive for rabies, prompting state health officials to issue an urgent warning to those who visited the operation's mobile menagerie since late July.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) said Sunday that tests Friday confirmed that the rabies virus was found in three baby goats. A fourth baby goat was not tested but was assumed to also have been infected, the agency said.
The four infected baby goats were euthanized, according to ABC affiliate station WSOC in Charlotte, N.C.
The animals belonged to Farm Adventures in Harmony, North Carolina, and were part of a traveling petting zoo that made at least 10 stops in six counties since July 28, including one at an assisted living facility and another at a back-to-school event, NCDHHS said in their statement.
"Impacted individuals should contact their local health department to determine whether medications are needed to prevent infection," according to the statement.
The goats were most likely exposed to rabies by a skunk that entered an enclosed pen where they were kept in late July, NCDHHS said.
The infected baby goats are believed to have been on display at events in Mecklenburg, Iredell, Watauga, Burke, Davie and Durham counties.
"Public health officials are working with event organizers to notify attendees who might have had contact with the infected goats at these events," state health officials said in the statement.
An investigation into the rabid goats is continuing, and officials cautioned that "additional information about potential exposure locations at public events will be released when available."
No one has reported being infected by the rabid baby goats, officials said.
Human rabies infections are extremely rare in the United States and no human cases have been reported in North Carolina since 2011, the NCDHHS statement said.
Fewer than 10 human deaths from rabies are reported each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 90% of reported rabies cases are discovered in wildlife, most commonly including skunks, bats, raccoons and foxes, the CDC said.
"Anybody that knows me knows my animals are the most important thing in the world to me, so it's hard," Misty Love, owner of the Farm Adventures petting zoo, told WSOC.
Love said it appears the skunk that infected her goats got into their cage through a hole in late July.
“It’s devastating," Love said. "They were kept in an enclosed pen to prevent any wild animal contact."
Love said that several weeks after being exposed to the skunk, the infected baby goats began showing signs of illness. She said none of the other animals that are part of the traveling petting zoo have been infected and that they have all been given rabies booster shots.
"For any parent that has any question, I highly recommend them to go get vaccinated," Love said.
Love's petting zoo has been put on quarantine, health officials said.
"It’s a nightmare," Love said.
ABC News' Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
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