Nearly 300 people exposed to goats with rabies at mobile petting zoo

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Local health departments in North Carolina have evaluated hundreds of people for rabies after they interacted with baby goats that were part of a mobile petting zoo, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

As of Wednesday, 284 people have been evaluated by local health departments, while others have consulted with a healthcare provider directly to assess their potential rabies risk.

The goats were owned by Farm Adventures, based in Harmony, North Carolina. Between July 28 and August 27, local officials said in a statement , the farm took the goats throughout the state and visited at least 10 locations, including a Masonic picnic, assisted living centers and a back-to-school bash, as well as private events.

Baby goats with rabies at North Carolina mobile petting zoo prompt calls across multiple counties to contact health officials

The state health department recommended post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for 213 of the people who were evaluated.

If started promptly after exposure, PEP is considered 100% effective at preventing a fatal rabies infection.

About 100,000 people are treated with PEP each year in the US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . It typically starts with wound care if there was a bite or scratch — rabies can also spread through contact with an animal’s saliva — followed by human rabies immunoglobulin to help fight a potential infection until vaccines take effect. Four or five vaccine doses are given, based on the patient’s weight.

In the past, people exposed to rabies received up to 30 painful vaccine shots in the stomach. Today, adults can get the shots in the shoulder muscle, while children can get them in the thigh over the course of 14 days. Side effects are generally mild and may include a sore arm, a headache and an upset stomach.

Without prompt treatment, rabies is typically fatal. Symptoms, which can take up to two months to develop, may include headache, nausea and sore throat before progressing to hallucinations, delusions, disorientation, paralysis and coma.

She woke up with a bat on her mouth

At Jurney’s Assisted Living Home in Statesville, Executive Director Chrissy Stein-Martin said eight residents are undergoing treatment after interacting with the goats. None refused PEP, she said, and the hospital and health departments have been “great to work with.”

“They’ve been asking good questions, seeing what they can do to help. In fact, the health department’s coming here to do all the follow-up vaccines so we don’t have to take the residents out. And the families have been very supportive,” she said.

Going forward, Stein-Martin said, the facility will still welcome dog visitors but will no longer host farm animals. Alpacas from a local farm have regularly visited the facility, but when she learned that North Carolina requires rabies vaccines for only cats, dogs and ferrets — not farm animals, including goats – she decided “there’s no reason to put everyone at risk.”

Farm Adventures said in a statement that its “4 precious baby goats” that may have exposed people to rabies have been euthanized. Tests detected the virus in three of the goats. The farm said it is monitoring its other animals, but none has become sick.

These two goats apparently had somewhere to be

The baby goats had been kept in a separate pen because they were too young to get vaccinated, according to the farm’s owner, Misty Love, who told CNN on Saturday that a wild skunk had gotten into the baby goats’ pen July 29. The farm shot and burned the skunk.

None of the goats appeared to have been bitten, but one died August 19, and another fell ill the next day and had to be euthanized.

North Carolina’s health department said it is “well prepared to respond to rabies.” About 300 animals test positive for rabies in the state every year; most of them wild.

In 2025, more than 4,000 animals were tested for rabies in North Carolina, and only about 6% were positive for the virus, the health department said.

As of August 28, more than 320 people in North Carolina had received PEP, the health department said. That figure covers all rabies exposures in the state, not just people exposed to the infected goats.

Since rabies was confirmed in the goats, state and local health authorities and the CDC have coordinated with the farm and local authorities to determine who was exposed and who may need treatment.

The state health department said it has been in regular contact with the CDC, and that agency said Monday that it supplied information and tools to support rabies risk assessments.

The CDC’s latest rabies exposure surveillance report, released Monday, analyzed cases from 2024 and reported that four people died of rabies that year. Two were exposed to bats and did not receive treatment. Another case involved international travel. There was no information about the fourth case.

The state health department said North Carolina has an adequate supply of prophylaxis and would provide it to anyone who needs it.

The Mecklenburg County Public Health Department, which had one private event with exposure to the goats, declined to share details about the event or those exposed. Anyone with concerns is urged to contact the department.

At Jurney’s, Stein-Martin said, residents have “not been stressed at all” about the experience. Instead, they’ve been making light of it – “maybe even too light,” making goat sounds at each other and joking about not licking people.

She said levity is important in a potentially scary situation. In fact, Stein-Martin, who writes psychological thrillers in her spare time, said residents keep encouraging her to write a new book about a rabies scare in an assisted living community.

“Unexpectedly, I now feel like I’m 100% qualified to do that,” she said.

CNN’s Ray Sanchez and Deidre McPhillips contributed to this report.

BSIP SA/Alamy Stock Photo

据北卡罗来纳州卫生与公共服务部称，北卡罗来纳州当地卫生部门已对数百名与移动宠物动物园中的小山羊接触过的人进行了狂犬病评估。

截至周三，已有 284 人接受了当地卫生部门的评估，而其他人则直接咨询了医疗保健提供者，以评估他们潜在的狂犬病风险。

这些山羊属于位于北卡罗来纳州哈莫尼的农场探险公司所有。当地官员在一份声明中表示，在7月28日至8月27日期间，该农场带着这些山羊走遍了全州，至少参观了10个地点，包括共济会野餐会、养老院、返校派对以及私人活动。

北卡罗来纳州一家流动宠物动物园发现患有狂犬病的幼山羊，引发多个县的民众致电联系卫生官员。

州卫生部门建议对接受评估的 213 人进行暴露后预防 (PEP)。

如果暴露后立即开始进行 PEP，则可 100% 有效地预防致命的狂犬病感染。

据美国疾病控制与预防中心统计，美国每年约有10万人接受暴露后预防（PEP）治疗。治疗通常从伤口护理开始（如果被咬伤或抓伤——狂犬病也可通过接触动物唾液传播），随后注射人狂犬病免疫球蛋白以帮助抵抗潜在感染，直至疫苗生效。根据患者体重，通常需要接种四到五剂疫苗。

过去，狂犬病患者需要接受多达30针痛苦的腹部注射疫苗。如今，成人可以在肩部肌肉注射，儿童则可以在14天内分多次在大腿注射。副作用通常较轻微，可能包括手臂酸痛、头痛和胃部不适。

如不及时治疗，狂犬病通常是致命的。症状可能需要长达两个月的时间才会出现，初期可能包括头痛、恶心和咽喉痛，之后会发展为幻觉、妄想、定向障碍、瘫痪和昏迷。

她醒来时发现嘴上叼着一根蝙蝠。

位于斯泰茨维尔的朱尼辅助生活中心执行主任克里西·斯坦-马丁表示，八名居民在与山羊接触后正在接受治疗。她说，所有居民都接受了暴露后预防治疗（PEP），医院和卫生部门也“非常配合”。

“他们提出了很多很好的问题，尽力提供帮助。事实上，卫生部门会来这里进行后续疫苗接种，这样我们就不用把居民们带出去了。而且家属们也都非常支持我们，”她说。

斯坦-马丁表示，今后该机构仍将欢迎狗狗前来参观，但不再饲养农场动物。当地一家农场的羊驼曾定期来访，但当她得知北卡罗来纳州只要求猫、狗和雪貂（而非包括山羊在内的农场动物）接种狂犬病疫苗时，她认为“没有理由让所有人面临风险”。

农场探险公司在一份声明中表示，其“4只珍贵的小山羊”可能已将狂犬病毒传染给人类，目前已对其进行安乐死。检测结果显示，其中3只小山羊携带狂犬病毒。农场方面表示，他们正在密切观察其他动物，目前尚未发现任何动物生病。

这两只山羊显然有地方要去。

据农场主米斯蒂·洛夫（Misty Love）周六告诉CNN，这些小山羊因为太小不能接种疫苗，所以被单独圈养。7月29日，一只野生臭鼬闯入了小山羊的圈舍。农场开枪射杀并焚烧了这只臭鼬。

这些山羊似乎都没有被咬伤，但其中一只在 8 月 19 日死亡，另一只在第二天生病，不得不实施安乐死。

北卡罗来纳州卫生部门表示，他们“已做好充分准备应对狂犬病”。该州每年约有300只动物狂犬病检测呈阳性，其中大部分是野生动物。

北卡罗来纳州卫生部门表示，2025 年，该州对 4000 多只动物进行了狂犬病检测，其中只有约 6% 的动物病毒检测呈阳性。

截至8月28日，北卡罗来纳州卫生部门表示，该州已有超过320人接受了狂犬病暴露后预防（PEP）。这一数字涵盖了该州所有狂犬病暴露病例，而不仅仅是接触过感染山羊的人。

由于山羊被确诊患有狂犬病，州和地方卫生部门以及疾控中心已与农场和地方当局协调，以确定哪些人接触过狂犬病以及哪些人可能需要治疗。

州卫生部门表示，他们一直与美国疾病控制与预防中心保持定期联系。美国疾病控制与预防中心周一表示，他们提供了信息和工具来支持狂犬病风险评估。

美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）周一发布的最新狂犬病暴露监测报告分析了2024年的病例，报告显示当年有4人死于狂犬病。其中2人曾接触过蝙蝠，但未接受治疗。另1例涉及国际旅行。报告未提供第4例病例的信息。

州卫生部门表示，北卡罗来纳州有充足的预防药物，并将向任何需要的人提供。

梅克伦堡县公共卫生部门曾举办过一场私人活动，期间有人接触过山羊。该部门拒绝透露活动详情或接触者信息。如有任何疑问，请与该部门联系。

斯坦-马丁说，在朱尼养老院，居民们对这件事“一点也不感到压力”。相反，他们还以轻松的态度看待这件事——“可能太轻松了”，互相发出山羊叫声，开玩笑说自己不会舔人。

她说，在可能令人恐惧的情况下，保持轻松的心态很重要。事实上，业余时间创作心理惊悚小说的斯坦-马丁表示，居民们一直鼓励她写一本关于养老院狂犬病恐慌事件的新书。

“出乎意料的是，我现在觉得自己完全有资格做这件事，”她说。

CNN的雷·桑切斯和迪尔德丽·麦克菲利普斯对本报道亦有贡献。