The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has updated its most recent number of reported rabies cases, and Pima County finds itself on top of that list.
With a total of 36 reported cases in Pima County, the area accounts for more than half of the entire state’s total of 77 reported cases, Game and Fish said.
Santa Cruz County has 10 reported cases, and Cochise County has had eight.
The gray fox chewed patio furniture and tried to get into a house near Agua Caliente Park on Thursday. State wildlife officials say anyone who sees the fox should avoid it and immediately report the sighting by calling the 24-hour hotline at 623-236-7201.
“In Arizona, the principal rabies hosts are bats, skunks and foxes,” Anne Justice-Allen, a Game and Fish wildlife veterinarian, said in a news release. “These animals carry their own distinct strains of the rabies virus. When rabies activity within these animal groups increases, rabies can impact other mammals, such as bobcats, coyotes, javelina, cats, dogs, horses, or cows.”
The Arizona Game and Fish Department reminds the public to protect themselves and their pets by keeping a safe distance from wildlife, especially animals that may be behaving abnormally or are overly aggressive and/or lacking a fear of humans.
Earlier this year, a gray fox, suspected of being rabid, bit three people in two separate attacks at Saguaro National Park in southern Arizona. The animal was killed as it approached a park service officer. Another gray fox was located and killed in March after it bit a person in a picnic area on Mount Lemmon near Tucson, according to the AZGFD.
The department recommends that pets such as dogs and cats, as well as livestock such as horses, should be vaccinated regularly against rabies. In addition, dogs should be on leashes when outdoors and a veterinarian consulted if any domestic animals are injured by wildlife.
Unvaccinated animals exposed to wildlife with rabies must undergo a four-month quarantine, and vaccinated animals need to be quarantined for 45 days.
