Seven cases of rabies in 2015

A seventh case of rabies was confirmed in Pike County in 2015 after two dogs killed a raccoon at 3141 Caldwell Road on Monday, Dec. 28. According to Tanya Perkins, Pike’s animal control officer, the raccoon tested positive for rabies. She said both dogs were current on their rabies vaccinations and also received booster shots so they will not have to be quarantined. Caldwell Road is in the northern part of the county and runs between Shackelford and Gresham Roads just off Highway 19. Most of the other six cases of confirmed rabies involved raccoons, but a rabid fox attacked a dog and then a man in Zebulon on April 19. The fox attacked a dog on a Zebulon resident’s front porch in the early morning hours but ran away after being maced by police officers. The rabid fox later attacked a man who was walking his small dog outside his residence on Industrial Drive. The man was able to alert his wife and get a gun to shoot the rabid animal, but not before he received scratches while kicking the fox away from himself and his dog. He had to receive the post-exposure series of rabies shots. To report possible rabies cases, citizens may call environmental health manager Ben Trotter at 770-567-8972 or the animal control officer at 770-567-2007.