The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents to use caution if you encounter any wild animal that acts unnatural, such as skunks and bats being out during the day, and call for animal control to assess the situation.
Cochise County has identified two skunks and one bat in the past 60 days who have tested positive for the rabies virus, while there is substantially more cases in Santa Cruz County.
According to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, in Arizona, there are at least three strains of rabies circulating in the environment. The ones that are most commonly identified are the big brown bat, grey fox and skunk strains.
Pima, Santa Cruz, Cochise, and Coconino counties have the highest number of animals that test positive for rabies.
Rabies is caused by a virus. All mammals are susceptible to infection but the disease is generally not seen in squirrels, rodents, rabbits or hares.
The virus infects the nervous system and brain, and causes symptoms in people that range from headache and tingling of the extremities, to difficulty swallowing, seizures, and death; once symptoms begin it is always fatal.
Animals usually exhibit abnormal behavior and can appear especially docile or extremely aggressive. While there are several strains of the virus which are identified by the species of animal that is primarily responsible for maintaining the disease in the environment, all warm-blooded are susceptible to all of the strains, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department.