Fox Tests Positive for Rabies After Biting 9 People on Capitol Hill

The fox that menaced Capitol Hill earlier this week, biting a U.S. Congressman and at least eight other people, has tested positive for rabies, the Washington, DC, Health Department announced Wednesday.

“The DC Public Health lab has confirmed the fox that was captured yesterday tested positive for the rabies virus,” the agency said, according to TODAY. “D.C. Health is contacting all human victims who were bitten by the fox.”

D.C. Health stated that the fox was “humanely euthanized so that rabies testing may be done” following its two-day biting spree on Monday and Tuesday, the Agence France-Presse reported

The city agency noted that on Wednesday morning, the animal’s offspring were discovered and captured, ABC News reported.

D.C. Health said:

The fox was an adult female and kits were found and captured in the area where the fox was from earlier this morning. If this fox is determined to be the parent of the kits, they will be sent to a wildlife rehabilitation center, otherwise they will be relocated in the area they were found. 

The fox bit Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) on Monday while he was on his way to the Capitol, the Associated Press noted. Bera began rabies postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) Tuesday, according to TODAY.

“Rabies PEP includes one dose of human rabies immune globulin (HRIG) and four doses of rabies vaccine given over two weeks,” New York City’s Department of Health reports. “HRIG provides immediate protection while the vaccine helps your body’s immune system fight the virus.”

Bera snagged a picture of the animal, seen below, and announced in a tweet Wednesday that he feels healthy and is “glad to be back at work.”

Thanks everyone for the well wishes! I feel healthy and am glad to be back at work.

Despite the dustup, I hold no grudge or ill will against @thecapitolfox. Hoping the and its family are safely relocated and wishing it a happy and prosperous future. https://t.co/ys9aifa2MN

— Ami Bera, M.D. (@RepBera) April 6, 2022

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that one to three human rabies cases occur in the U.S. annually, with just 25 instances taking place between 2009 and 2019. Only two of the twenty-five people who contracted the virus over that time survived.

The CDC notes:

The number of human rabies deaths in the United States has been steadily declining since the 1970’s thanks to animal control and vaccination programs, successful outreach programs, public health capacity and laboratory diagnostics, and the availability of modern rabies biologics.

Annually, anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000 people exposed to the virus receive rabies PEP to prevent infection, according to the CDC.

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