North Carolina petting zoo quarantines animals after baby goats test positive for rabies

Health officials in North Carolina have confirmed that four baby goats from the Farm Adventures mobile petting zoo tested positive for rabies, leading to the animals' euthanasia and a quarantine of the remaining livestock. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services asked anyone who interacted with the goats from July 28 to August 27 to contact local health departments for guidance on post-exposure prophylaxis.

The outbreak appears linked to a wild skunk that entered the goats' pen in late July. Farm Adventures owner Misty Love said the skunk passed through holes in the enclosure but did not bite or spray the animals. The goats showed signs of illness several weeks later. Because the kids were too young to have received the rabies vaccine, which is typically administered between 12 weeks and six months of age, they were vulnerable to infection.

"Several goats at Farm Adventures have tested positive for rabies by the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health and may have been in direct contact with people at events while infectious," the state health department said.

All zoo employees and other animals have received a rabies vaccine booster, and the facility is cooperating fully with state and county investigators. Officials noted that while the risk of transmission from livestock is lower than from wildlife, close contact such as cuddling or bottle-feeding could expose visitors to the virus.

"The petting zoo held off-site events involving children and elderly individuals across multiple counties within that time frame," the health department added.

Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear, but prompt post-exposure treatment—combining vaccine doses with immune-globulin—remains highly effective.