Fox in Masardis test positive for rabies

A fox that bit a dog in Aroostook County tested positive for rabies on Friday, according to a press release from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The incident occurred in Masardis, approximately 10 miles south of Ashland. It is the furthest north that rabies has advanced in the state, according to DIF&W. 

The dog that was bitten by the fox was up to date on the rabies vaccination and no human exposure occurred.

The infected fox is the second known case of raccoon variant rabies reported in Aroostook County this year. Prevalent in much of the eastern U.S., the raccoon strain of rabies first appeared in Maine in 1994 and in Aroostook County in 2007, according to DIF&W. In 2008, Maine reported 71 cases of rabies. Twenty cases have been reported so far this year.