WILLIAMSBURG — A wild gray fox that bit five people, one dog, and one cat in the City of Williamsburg during the overnight hours of Monday, Aug. 22 and Tuesday, Aug. 23, has tested positive for rabies according to the Virginia Department of Health Hampton & Peninsula Health Districts.
Fox bites and sightings were reported in the areas of Mimosa Drive, Boundary Street, Counselor’s Way, and Griffin Avenue, according to the city.
“Rabies is a fatal, but preventable, disease that is carried by mammals and has been in the wild animal population on the Peninsula since the mid 1980’s,” Hampton & Peninsula Health Districts said in a press release. “Our Williamsburg Environmental Health Office staff will be contacting the immediate neighbors, as well as any civic or homeowner’s association(s) that serve the communities listed above.
Anyone having information regarding an exposure to any fox — whether a bite, scratch or contact with saliva by open wound or eyes, nose, mouth — is asked to contact the Hampton & Peninsula Health Districts’ Williamsburg Environmental Health Office at 757-603-4277. After hours, contact James City County/Williamsburg Animal Control at 757-565-0370.
Exposures also include direct contact between a pet and the rabid animal.
