Four baby goats at a North Carolina mobile petting zoo tested positive for rabies and have been euthanized, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Health officials are asking those who visited the zoo to check in with their health-care provider to determine whether medications are needed to prevent infection.
On Saturday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) said it was first notified of a potential rabies exposure among four baby goats at Farm Adventures in Harmony, N.C., on Thursday.
“The goats were most likely exposed to rabies by a skunk that had entered the pen where they were kept in late July. The NC State Laboratory of Public Health confirmed rabies virus in three of the baby goats on August 28; a fourth goat was not tested but is also assumed to have been infected,” the NCDHHS said in a press release.
Officials have been working with the farm and local health departments to gather information about potential exposure dates and locations.
Based on information gathered on Friday, it has been determined that no other animals on the farm pose a risk of rabies exposure to visitors.
Health officials determined that anyone who had contact with the baby goats from Farm Adventures at a location in Harmony or at an off-site event between July 28 and Aug. 27 may have been exposed.
Event organizers are working with health officials to notify attendees who might have had contact with the infected goats at 10 events.
The investigation is ongoing and additional information about potential exposure locations at public events will be released when available, health officials said.
The owner of the petting zoo said she’s “devastated” following the positive rabies tests.
Farm Adventures Mobile Petting Zoo owner Misty Love told WSOC Now that the goats “are my life.”
“Everybody that knows me knows my animals are the most important thing in the world to me, so it’s hard,” she said.
She also noted that the goats were “not showing the traditional signs of rabies.”
The Mayo Clinic describes rabies as “a deadly virus spread to people from the saliva of infected animals” and notes that the rabies virus is “usually transmitted through a bite.”
The first symptoms of rabies may be similar to those of the flu and last for days, according to the organization. Later signs and symptoms may include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, confusion and difficulty swallowing.
In Canada, the animals that most often transmit rabies are bats, skunks and foxes, according to the government of Canada.
The government notes that in Canada and the United States, the prevalence of wildlife rabies is relatively low. It is more frequently diagnosed in wildlife, and occasionally in livestock and pets.
The news of the baby goats infected with rabies comes months after a beaver that “had contact with several people” at a lake in New Jersey tested positive for rabies.
“On Sunday, May 3rd, it was reported that a beaver at Lake Henry had contact with several people and has since tested positive for rabies,” the Mahwah Health Department said in a statement confirming the attack.
“Individuals who were bitten are currently receiving treatment. If you have had any contact with this animal, please notify the Mahwah Township Health Department immediately. You will need to be assessed by a doctor for medical treatment.”
The health department said the public is advised to “avoid wildlife, as any warm-blooded animal can carry rabies.”
An eight-year-old boy had been fishing from the shoreline when a beaver came out of the water and “charged at him,” police told News 12 New Jersey.
“The child began to run away but tripped. The animal bit the child in the upper thigh and continued to attack him.”
The child was reportedly transported by EMS crews to a local hospital for treatment.