Rhode Island news

Comments | Recommended

Fox attacks prompt DEM to issue warning

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, May 31, 2008

By Scott MacKay

Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — Three people bitten by two foxes — one of which has tested positive for rabies — have been treated at Westerly Hospital, according to Sgt. Frances Ethier of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

The foxes were captured separately in the Sweet Valley Estates neighborhood, near the Lindhbrook Golf Course, environmental officials said.

In a statement yesterday, the DEM warned Hopkinton residents that three people were bitten in two unprovoked attacks, and that one of the foxes tested positive for rabies. Results of tests on the second fox were pending last night.

On Thursday, a person was bitten while using a weed cutter in a yard in the Sweet Valley Estates subdivision. The police called the DEM and environmental officers captured the fox and brought it to the state Department of Health laboratory, where it tested positive for rabies.

An environmental officer was bitten during the capture. Ethier declined to release the name of the officer.

Yesterday, another Hopkinton resident was bitten by a fox in an unprovoked attack. All three victims are scheduled to get a series of vaccinations.

DEM officials requested that Hopkinton residents watch out for rabid foxes and report any contact with foxes to state environmental police at (401) 222-3070.

smackay@projo.com

Advertisement

Reader Reaction