NIGHTMARE

Baby Goats With Rabies Spark Petting Zoo Panic

An assisted-living facility and back-to-school event are among the places where visitors may have been exposed.

North Carolina health officials are warning visitors to a mobile petting zoo that some of the animals they came into contact with may have had rabies. Three baby goats from Farm Adventures have tested positive for rabies and a fourth was assumed to be infected. People who visited the mobile petting zoo’s location in Harmony or at off-site events between July 28 and August 27 are at risk of having been exposed. Health officials listed 10 events where people may have been exposed, including one at an assisted-living facility and a back-to-school party. “There is not a broad risk to the public—only those who attended events at the mobile petting zoo and were in close contact with the goats are at risk,” officials said. The health department said the outbreak most likely came from a skunk that had entered the goats’ pen in late July. “Residents should not wait for symptoms before calling,” Mecklenburg County Health Director Kimberly Scott said. Farm Adventures said its “4 precious baby goats” were euthanized and its staff is “closely monitoring our remaining animals under the guidelines provided by health officials.”