Rabies Rocks a Mobile Petting Zoo: How North Carolina’s Public Health Lab Sprang Into Action

On August 27, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) and the state’s Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services were notified that four baby goats belonging to a mobile petting zoo were suspected of having rabies.

Rabies is a viral disease that’s spread through the infected saliva of wild animals and unvaccinated pets. The saliva enters the body through a cut, scratch or mucous membranes. The disease mainly affects the body’s central nervous system and is 100% fatal if symptoms appear before treatment begins.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year 1.4 million Americans seek care for a possible rabies exposure. And the numbers appear to be growing.

In September, CDC issued a health advisory noting that from July through August, it had received 17% more rabies-related inquiries than during the same period in 2025. CDC also reported that the use of rabies vaccines and the immunoglobulin administered after an exposure have increased 33% and 76%, respectively, compared to the same time last year.

Baby goats fall ill

In late July, a few weeks before the goats got sick, a skunk had entered their enclosure and likely exposed the animals. The goats were not vaccinated because there is no United States Department of Agriculture-licensed vaccine for goats, and there is not a requirement for any animals to be vaccinated in North Carolina, except for dogs, cats and ferrets. 

The skunk was killed and disposed of and, while it was never tested, was later presumed to be rabid after one goat died and another started displaying neurological symptoms consistent with rabies infection. That goat was humanely euthanized and the other farm animals were quarantined out of caution.

A testing timeline

By the morning of August 28, just a day after authorities were notified about the sick animal, North Carolina’s State Laboratory of Public Health (SLPH) was in possession of the euthanized goat and began rabies testing.

“This was a Friday,” commented Rebecca Pelc, PhD, virology/serology unit manager at the North Carolina SLPH. “We were going into the weekend, and we wanted to make sure we didn’t lose any time. The public health implications of this were massive.”

By the afternoon, goats three and four had also been euthanized and sent to the lab.

Rabies testing in animals can only be conducted on brain tissue, which is why animals suspected of having the disease need to be euthanized. Pelc said the lab used a direct fluorescent antibody test, which takes a sample of brain tissue, stains it with an anti-rabies antibody mixture and then examines it under a microscope looking for areas that fluoresce, indicating the rabies virus is present.

In a matter of hours, the lab had positive results and was able to inform state and local public health partners so they could alert the public.

The public health response

In the month or so after the goats were exposed to rabies—but before symptoms first appeared—the petting zoo had traveled throughout the state, visiting an assisted living facility, a community back-to-school bash, birthday parties and more. Overall, roughly 300 people—many of them children and the elderly—had potentially been exposed to the goats.

Once the positive results were obtained, NCDHHS advised anyone who may have had close contact with the goats to consult their local health departments or healthcare provider to assess their exposure risk and get guidance on whether they needed post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), which can include vaccination and/or an injection of the human rabies immune globulin to neutralize the virus. NCDHHS also posted a risk assessment guide on its website for those who may have visited the petting zoo.

“These goats had traveled to multiple counties, from the Tennessee border to the Research Triangle in Durham County, NC. That’s a huge area,” said Scott Shone, PhD, director of the North Carolina SLPH. “Hundreds of people may have been exposed and potentially in need of PEP. We were looking at a huge public health response.”

North Carolina and its robust rabies testing

The North Carolina SLPH is no stranger to rabies testing. Every year, said Pelc, the SLPH conducts 4,000 rabies tests, with about 6% of those tests turning up positive. In one day alone, she noted, the lab had 55 animals to process and test.

“In other labs, rabies testing can fall to people who have other duties as well,” Pelc explained. “But here, we have dedicated rabies staff who do same-day rabies testing every day.”

“This kind of work requires not only expertise in the testing, but a willingness to work in an environment where you’re exposed to a potentially deadly virus,” added Shone, who noted that no humans exposed to the goats or the other zoo animals developed rabies. “It’s horrible that residents of our state had to go through this, but the fact of the matter is, we handle thousands of these samples every year, and we’re as dedicated to the 94% who don’t test positive as the 6% who do. Our lab is ready to help protect our residents whenever the need arises.”

Read more from Lab Culture News about rabies: “One of Mankind’s Oldest Diseases Is Still a Threat: What Public Health Labs Are Doing to Detect and Respond to Rabies”