A family enjoyed a day out at a petting zoo, only to learn two weeks later that they may have been exposed to rabies. Tatiana Villatoro, 23, is from Durham, North Carolina, and hired a local mobile petting zoo for a private family event on August 16. She had found Farm Adventures Mobile Petting Zoo's advert online, and was impressed by the "animals and pony rides you could rent out to come to your event and make it a fun time for the kids and even the adults to enjoy." A spokesperson for Farm Adventures, in response to a request for comment from Newsweek, said the goal had "always been to bring joy to families, and my animals are my priority.
I am deeply saddened by this situation and would never have brought the baby goats to an event had I known there was any risk." The spokesperson said when one goat, Maggie, showed symptoms, she contacted the veterinarian, and "over the following days, multiple veterinarians examined the goats, prescribed treatments, and were unable to determine the cause of their illness, as they were not displaying typical signs of rabies." When one goat's condition declined, they made the decision to euthanize and test the body, where rabies was confirmed. "We had previously seen a skunk on the property and thoroughly checked all the goats for bite marks, finding none. We were completely unaware of any heightened rabies risk in our area," they said.
"We took every proper medical step as symptoms appeared and acted in good faith with the guidance of our veterinarians." Recalling the day of their mobile zoo event, Villatoro told Newsweek that "the children, my family, guests and myself were all over the goats, feeding them and having them [climb] all over us." With more than 30 guests attending, the day appeared to go off without a hitch. But days later, on August 30, a friend sent her a link with terrifying news—the petting zoo was connected with multiple confirmed rabies cases. Rabies is a deadly virus spread to humans from the saliva of infected animals, usually through a bite, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Once a person has started showing symptoms, it is almost always fatal, meaning anyone who could possibly have been exposed must get vaccinations as soon as possible. The Durham County Department of Public Health (DCoDPH) confirmed in a press release that it was working alongside the NC Department of Health and Human Services to investigate potential rabies exposures connected to Farm Adventures Mobile Petting Zoo after multiple baby goats tested positive for rabies. It warned that people at the zoo's primary location in Harmony, North Carolina, or at mobile events in other counties who had contact with the baby goats between July 28 and August 27 should contact their local health department to assess the risk and determine if medication was needed.
They assured locals that the baby goats were the only affected animals in the current investigation, and that affected people would be contacted in the coming days. In response to a request to comment from Newsweek, a spokesperson for the DCoDPH said: "Farm Adventures was present at two events within Durham County. "As part of our response, we contacted the hosts of these events to determine who was present at the events, learn how to get in touch with them, and reach out to assess their exposure risk and inform them of any necessary next steps to stay safe." In Villatoro's case, she said she first heard of the outbreak from her friend's link, and hadn't been contacted by the farm or health department at that point.
But she took immediate action, calling urgent care to ask about rabies treatment, and was told to go to the emergency room. "I did not wait to call the health department, as they were closed on Sundays [and] because I knew we had definitely had contact with those exact goats," she said. She said the baby goats "were not acting unusual," but "at the time we were unaware of how animals exposed to rabies act." Clinical signs of rabies are rarely definitive, according to the MSD Veterinary Manual.
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