BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (FOX Carolina) – Buncombe County health officials are encouraging anyone who visited a certain wildlife rescue center in Asheville in the last six months to contact their local health department for a rabies risk assessment.
Officials said that anyone who visited Michelle Cole or Alleyoop Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation in Asheville in the Sand Hill Road area of Candler and had contact with the wildlife there may need rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), depending on the nature of the exposure.
In North Carolina, licensed wildlife rehabilitators must possess a Captivity License for Rehabilitation, an additional rabies vector species certification, and have a complete rabies pre-exposure series to be allowed to handle and rehabilitate animal species that are at high risk of carrying rabies virus, such as bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes and bobcats. In Buncombe County and other counties where the US Department of Agriculture’s Oral Rabies Vaccination program is conducted, the rehabilitation and release of rabies vector species is not authorized except for bats. Unlicensed individuals are not allowed to possess or provide care to wildlife due to safety and public health concerns…