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<br />Orange County Animal Services reports 2nd positive <br />rabies test <br /> FROM STAFF REPORTS <br /> 11 hrs ago <br />CHAPEL HILL -- Orange County Animal Services has received its second positive rabies test result <br />of the year. <br />A Chapel Hill resident spotted an injured raccoon on the roadside earlier this month and she <br />removed it from the road and drove it home where she called Animal Control to have it <br />removed and tested for rabies. <br />“We are relieved to hear that the resident was not harmed by the animal itself,” said Bob <br />Marotto, Director of Animal Services. “We do not recommend the public handle injured wildlife <br />and, depending on the species involved, would instead advise people to call the North Carolina <br />Wildlife Resource Commission, a certified wildlife rehabilitator, or Animal Control to remove an <br />animal that may be injured and in need of human intervention.” <br />A communicable disease nurse from Orange County Health Department will contact the <br />resident to evaluate her risk of rabies exposure and see if there’s a need for post -exposure <br />prophylaxis, which protects people from rabies. <br />Raccoons are a host species to rabies in the Orange County area and dogs, cats, groundhogs, <br />skunks and foxes are the other species most susceptible to getting rabies through raccoons. The <br />other host species of rabies in Orange County is bats and of the few cases of rabies in humans <br />in the county in recent years, bats have been blamed. <br />A low-cost rabies vaccination clinic will be held from 3 -5 p.m. Thursday at Orange County <br />Animal Services, located at 1601 Eubanks Road in Chapel Hill. Animal Services will offer one and <br />three-year rabies vaccines for $10 and microchips for $25. Clinic dates for all of 2017 and clinic <br />requirements are posted at bit.ly/22B7Ejj online. <br />