Gray fox tests positive for rabies in Cochise County

COCHISE COUNTY, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Another gray fox has tested positive for rabies in Cochise County.

According to the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, the USDA said the fox that tested positive was from the Portal area, in the eastern foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains.

Additional testing is scheduled on other specimens this week.

Due to the degree of drought in southern Arizona, county officials expect to see an increase in wildlife/human interaction and possible increases in rabies cases.

Pet owners are advised to get their animals vaccinated and do not feed wildlife.

Foxes are among the principal rabies hosts in Arizona along with bats and skunks, though other animals can get rabies, too. Many cases have been confirmed in southern Arizona in recent months.

In January, a Vail woman was bitten by a fox that tested positive, and four rabid foxes were found in Cochise County in December.

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