Several baby goats from a North Carolina petting zoo have tested positive for rabies: State health officials say
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 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.
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.”
The four infected baby goats were euthanized, according to ABC affiliate station WSOC in Charlotte, N.C.
