Rabid raccoon put down after fight with cat in Mon County

INDEPENDENCE, W.Va. (WBOY) — A raccoon found at the border of Monongalia and Preston counties has tested positive for rabies.

The Monongalia County Health Department (MCHD) announced in a Facebook post Friday that the raccoon was found fighting a barn cat at a property off Gladesville Road in Independence. After both the raccoon and the cat were killed, the raccoon’s body was sent to Charleston for testing. The results came back Thursday afternoon confirming that it was rabid.

Monongalia is one of the 24 counties in West Virginia that has annual rabies vaccine drops to help prevent the spread of the disease in wild animals . In 2023, there were four confirmed cases in Monongalia County, the most notable being last July when multiple people were exposed to rabies from a feral cat colony in Morgantown —and 46 cases reported statewide, according to a press release from the MCHD.

Several other types of animals in West Virginia have had confirmed rabies cases in 2024, including a bat in Raleigh County and an otter and feral cat in Monroe County , and late last year, a deer tested positive for rabies in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle . Just earlier this month, a sick bear was put down in Randolph County and sent to be tested for diseases like rabies .

Although it’s impossible to tell if an animal has rabies just from looking at it, if a wild animal is acting strangely, you can call your local animal control or the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.

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