DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — Residents in Douglas County should be on alert after a raccoon tested positive for rabies in the area.
Douglas County Animal Services issued a warning in the area of Bomar Road and Pope Road in Douglasville.
Officials said that, on Jan. 16, a raccoon attacked a dog. The following day, officers captured the raccoon and it tested positive for rabies.
The dog is confined and currently under a 45-day quarantine period. A second dog may have been exposed and is also under a 45-day quarantine. This is the first rabies case of 2020 in the county. There were five cases in all of 2019 for Douglas County.
"If your pets are not vaccinated for rabies, please have them vaccinated now," officials in Douglas County said in a news release. "We are urging residents in the area to please take necessary precaution."
They offered suggestions to keep you and your pets safe:
- Keep rabies vaccinations up-to-date for your pet.
- Keep your cats indoors and keep your dogs on a leash when outside.
- Don't leave food or garbage outside that may attract wild animals.
- Stay away from wild animals and do not feed them.
Rabies is a viral disease of mammals transmitted in the saliva of an infected animal, they said. It is transmitted when the infected animal bites another mammal. Rabies in humans is 100 percent preventable by vaccination. In the United States, the rabies virus is mostly spread by wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes. The rabies virus is endemic in Georgia.
If you see wildlife or domesticated dogs and cats acting strangely, officials ask that you call Animal Control at 770-942-5961.