Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Alexandria: Police

PHOTOS: Raccoon photo courtesy of National Park Service (photo is not raccoon collected in Alexandria last week). Flyer distributed by Alexandria Police Department

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ALEXANDRIA, VA -- A sick raccoon collected last week, on Thursday, April 7, near E. Linden Street (see map below) in the Rosemont neighborhood of the City tested positive for rabies, according to Alexandria Police.

At this time, there is no evidence that other animals in the City have rabies, but because the raccoon was positive, there is an increased risk, according to police.

If you have concerns, police ask that you call Animal Control at (703) 746-4774.

Signs that a raccoon is rabid, from Wildlife in Crisis:

"It's a myth that raccoons seen during daylight hours must be rabid. It is not unusual for healthy mother raccoons with hungry babies to search for extra food during the day, and raccoons can often be seen sunbathing in trees. Raccoons will forage for food along coastlines whenever low tide occurs. Only if a raccoon or other wild animal is acting strange or sick - convulsing, circling, appearing disoriented or partly paralyzed, showing signs of unprovoked aggression or uncharacteristic tameness - people should call their animal control officer or police."

Facts about rabies from the Virginia Department of Health:

• Rabies is a deadly disease caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system. It kills almost any mammal or human that gets sick from it.
• The rabies virus is mainly in the saliva and brain of rabid animals. It can be transmitted through a bite or by getting saliva or brain tissue in a wound; rarely by getting virus in the eye or mouth.
• Only mammals get rabies; birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians do not. Skunks, bats, foxes, raccoons, dogs, cats, and some farm animals are most likely to get rabies. Rabbits, squirrels, rats and mice, and small pets like gerbils and hamsters seldom get it.
• Rabies can be prevented in cats, dogs, ferrets, and some livestock with a rabies vaccination. For most wild and exotic animals, there are no rabies vaccines available that have been shown to protect them.
• At present, there is an oral wildlife rabies vaccine available only to State or Federal Rabies Control Programs. The use of an oral rabies vaccine in an area may decrease the number of rabid animals, but will not eliminate the need for vaccination of pets or other domestic animals.

Area where rabid raccoon was found last week (Google map):