Two additional animals — a fox and a raccoon — have tested positive for rabies in Troup County.

The Georgia Public Health Laboratory announced the rabies cases in a press release Tuesday. A fox in Hogansville also tested positive for rabies earlier this month.

Animal control recently picked up the raccoon in the vicinity of Towns Road and Cost-ley Road in LaGrange after an incident with a family dog. No residents were involved and the dog was current on rabies vaccine, only requiring a booster.

Animal Control submitted the fox for testing after it attacked a man near his residence in the area of Salem and Scott Roads in LaGrange. Post Exposure Prophylaxis to prevent human rabies has been initiated.

District 4 Public Health is encouraging residents to take precautions to protect their families and pets against rabies by learning signs of rabies and vaccinating pets.

Rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals that is most often spread through the bite of an animal that is infected with the disease. Rabies infects the central nervous system, causing encephalopathy (a disease of the brain) and, ultimately, death. Early symptoms of the disease include fever and headache. As the disease progresses, neurological symptoms appear and may include insomnia, confusion, hallucinations, a slight or partial paralysis, hyper salivation and/or difficulty swallowing.

“If you notice a wild or nocturnal animal moving about in the daytime and the animal appears to show no fear of people or the animal seems to behave in a sick or abnormal way, the animal may be infected with rabies,” said Hayla Folden, District 4 public information officer. “People should avoid animals acting out of character and report it to animal control or local environmental health office.”

Treatment and prevention practices for rabies have proven to be almost 100 percent effective when initiated promptly. The health department said to report any bite, scratch, or other contact with a wild animal to your local environmental health office.

“It is important to remember that although rabies occurs more often in wildlife, domestic animals like the family dog or cat can become infected as well. I strongly encourage owners to have all pets vaccinated to prevent rabies,” said Seth Woodrow, County Environmental Health Manager.

There have been seven animals total sent in to the GPHL this year in Troup County, three have been positive during May 2019. According to the Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention (CDC), the majority of rabies cases reported annually occur in wild animals such as raccoons, skunks, foxes and bats.  For more information about rabies, contact your local animal control office, county environmental health office, or visit the Georgia Division of Public Health web site at http://dph.georgia.gov/rabies or the CDC web site at www.cdc.gov.