St. Lucie County is under the microscopic lens of health officials after a raccoon and an otter tested positive for rabies. The Florida Department of Health in St.
Lucie County has raised an alarm, issuing a health alert that will span 60 days from the date of the incidents — the animals were confirmed to be carrying the virus on Tuesday. The presence of rabies, a deadly disease that affects the nervous system, was determined separately in the raccoon near Cypress Street and the otter near Germany Canal Road, as CBS12 reported. Local authorities, wary of the risk rabies poses to the public, highlighted that fast action can prevent the disease after exposure, with rabies-specific immune globulin and rabies immunization constituting the only treatment for humans, as WPBF News notes in their coverage.
The rabies alerts are anchored in two locations within the county; the River Park vicinity marked by Cypress Street and the rural area circling Germany Canal Road, these areas are now zones where residents and visitors need to exercise heightened awareness and precautions in light of the potential threat posed by local wildlife carrying rabies, these are not to be taken lightly as rabies can be a fatal condition, if bitten or scratched by an animal, residents are urged to seek medical attention and contact health authorities posthaste. Prevention strategies are being disseminated by the health department, perpetuating the message that local pet owners must vaccinate their pets an.