\n Several baby goats at a mobile petting zoo in North Carolina were infected with rabies, and authorities are asking anyone who had contact with the animals to reach out to health officials. Rabies can be deadly if people don\u2019t receive treatment before symptoms begin.\n <\/p>\n
\n Residents in western North Carolina may have had contact with the infected goats from Farm Adventures at the mobile petting zoo\u2019s location in Harmony or at off-site events between July 28 and August 27, local officials said in a statement<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Farm Adventures is based in Iredell County and books events in surrounding communities, and officials say<\/a> the owner has been cooperating with the investigation.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere is not a broad risk to the public \u2014 only those who attended events at the mobile petting zoo and were in close contact with the goats are at risk,\u201d officials said, asking residents to call their local health department for a rabies risk assessment and potential treatment.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cResidents should not wait for symptoms before calling,\u201d Mecklenburg County Health Director Dr. Kimberly Scott said.\n <\/p>\n \n Scott told CNN a coordinated statewide investigation is still seeking \u201cspecifics on total reach across counties and total number of people impacted.\u201d Communicable disease teams across multiple counties are alerting the public and working with the petting zoo to contact event organizers.\n <\/p>\n \n She said healthcare systems appear to have enough post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), the typical rabies treatment, available, and officials are \u201cpositioned to acquire access to more as needed as we learn more information.\u201d Scott said local officials were meeting with state public health authorities later Saturday.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhat\u2019s important is that we don\u2019t wait for the onset of symptoms when it is more difficult to treat and often most fatal,\u201d Scott said.\n <\/p>\n \n Farm Adventures said its \u201c4 precious baby goats\u201d were euthanized and its staff is \u201cclosely monitoring our remaining animals under the guidelines provided by health officials.\u201d The goats had been kept in a separate pen because they were too young for vaccinations, the petting zoo said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI care about my community, and I care about my customers,\u201d Misty Love, the owner of Farm Adventures, told CNN on Saturday. \u201cIf my customers that saw my animals have questions, I\u2019m going to be there for them.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Love said a wild skunk was found in the goat enclosure on July 29, and the animal was shot and burned. The goats did not appear to have been bitten and showed no signs of rabies, according to Love. But one goat died on August 19. The next day, she said, another goat became ill and was euthanized.\n <\/p>\n \n A necropsy on one of the animals revealed the infection. \u201cRIP Molly, Maggie, cow and Uno,\u201d the zoo\u2019s post said.\n <\/p>\n \n Though human cases of rabies in the United States are rare<\/a>, the disease is deadly. Fewer than 10 deaths are reported each year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services<\/a> said the case remains under investigation, adding \u201cadditional information about potential exposure locations at public events will be released once available.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Animals from the petting zoo were at the Masonic Picnic in Mocksville on August 15, according to a Facebook post<\/a> from Davie County Health and Human Services.\n <\/p>\n \n Additionally, Catawba and Burke counties said the petting zoo was at a private event near Hickory on August 9. Another event at Breeden Amphitheater in Lexington on August 1 included the petting zoo, according to the Davidson County<\/a> Health Department.\n <\/p>\n \n Rabies is caused by a virus<\/a> that is spread mainly through the saliva of infected animals. This virus is typically transmitted through an animal bite, though scratches or direct contact<\/a> with mucosa<\/a> can also spread the virus.\n <\/p>\n \n The virus primarily affects the central nervous system<\/a>, with inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. The incubation period<\/a>, the time between exposure to the virus and symptom onset, can last weeks to months. Once a person starts showing symptoms of rabies, the disease is nearly always fatal.\n <\/p>\n \n During incubation, there are typically no symptoms. Weeks to months after exposure, an infected person may experience flu-like symptoms<\/a> that can include fever, headache and overall body aches. Discomfort, such as a prickling sensation, at the site of the bite is also possible.\n <\/p>\n