Two more cases of rabies have been confirmed by the McDuffie County Health Department, making that five cases of the disease since October.
"That's a lot of cases in that time period," said McDuffie County Environmental Health Specialist Tim Mosley. "Some years we don't have many cases, and some years we have a lot. It's just a cycle."
About a week and a half ago, a Central Road resident found a rabid raccoon in his yard. It had been killed by two dogs. That marked the fourth time since October that a rabid raccoon has been found in the Central Road area. The other recent case occurred just one day later on the 1200 block of Stagecoach Road, where a man found his dog fighting with a rabid raccoon. The man shot the raccoon on site.
Both raccoons were confirmed as carrying the disease last week, which means that all the dogs that came into contact with the raccoons are subject to a 45-day quarantine. The Health Department is urging all residents to have their pets up-to-date on their rabies vaccination.
