Baby goats at petting zoo contaminated with rabies as households urged to contact authorities
Families are being urged to contact health officials after baby goats at a travelling petting zoo tested positive for rabies and may have exposed hundreds of people
Baby goats at petting zoo infected with rabies(Image: ABC)
Several baby goats at a petting zoo were infected with rabies, prompting health officials to issue an urgent warning to families who were potentially exposed.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, in the USA, has issued an urgent public health alert after multiple baby goats from a mobile petting zoo tested positive for the deadly virus. State health officials are now trying to locate and assess anyone who had direct contact with the animals.
The infected goats belonged to Farm Adventures, a travelling petting zoo based in Harmony, North Carolina. Officials say the incident began in late July when a wild skunk got into the pen where the baby goats were being kept.
The owner of a North Carolina petting zoo says she’s “devastated” after four baby goats tested positive for rabies(Image: WSOC)
Because the goats were too young to receive the standard rabies vaccine, they were unprotected. Zoo operators were initially unaware the animals had been bitten, KOCO 5 News reported.
Weeks later the goats began showing signs of illness and one died. Lab tests later confirmed rabies in three of the animals, while a fourth goat was not tested but was highly presumed to be infected.
All four goats have since been humanely euthanised. The main concern is that the petting zoo continued operating as normal while the animals were infectious, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services stated in an official release.
At least three baby goats belonging to a North Carolina petting zoo have tested positive for rabies(Image: ABC)
Between July 28 and August 27, the infected baby goats were taken to at least 10 public and private events across six North Carolina counties, including Iredell, Durham, Davie, Mecklenburg, Watauga and Burke. Known appearances included a Community Connections Back-to-School Bash in Lexington on August 1, a visit to Brookdale Peachtree Assisted Living Facility in Statesville on August 6, and the Masonic Picnic Grounds Dinosaur Exhibit in Mocksville on August 15.
Health officials warned that baby goats are often bottle-fed, cuddled and may lick people, meaning exposure could have occurred through saliva. They say hundreds of people may have been put at risk, particularly children and older attendees.
There have been no reported human cases linked to the incident so far. However, the department stressed that rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms develop, which is why it is asking anyone who touched, fed, was licked by, or otherwise had direct physical contact with the Farm Adventures baby goats during the dates above to contact their local county health department immediately.
Medical professionals will assess each case to decide whether post-exposure prophylaxis is needed, which involves a series of highly effective rabies vaccines designed to prevent illness after exposure.
Following the rabies outbreak, all employees and handlers immediately received rabies booster shots as a strict preventative measure.
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