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An alert was issued on Tuesday, Oct. 8 cautioning that the animal collected in the Willowcrest neighborhood in Frederick last week tested positive for the virus, the third to test positive for rabies in a quarter-mile area in the last three months.
"Finding this many rabid animals a short distance from each other and over a short period of time is unusual, so FCHD and Frederick County Animal Control remind residents that wildlife lives in residential areas and recommend avoiding interaction with or feeding wild animals," officials said.
According to the health department, some of the infected groundhogs have shown aggression to people and pets while others have not.
"Mammals can be infected with the rabies virus so do not touch or play with unknown animals," Barry Glotfelty, Director for FCHD’s Environmental Health Services stated. "Make sure your pets are vaccinated."
Rabies is a viral disease that mainly infects mammals (warm-blooded animals who nurse their young) and is spread through the saliva of the infected animal, usually by a bite or scratch, officials said.
Symptoms of rabies in animals may include fear of water, excessive salivation, failure to eat or drink, limping, unusually friendly or aggressive behavior, and/or other atypical behaviors such as nocturnal animals emerging during the daytime.
The disease is nearly always fatal to humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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