Second raccoon in Suffolk County tests positive for rabies

For the second time this year, a raccoon has tested positive for rabies in Suffolk, county health officials said.

A dead raccoon discovered in Amityville on Tuesday tested positive for rabies at a state health department facility in Albany, Suffolk health officials announced Monday.

Last month, a dead raccoon found in nearby North Amityville on Jan. 28 was also deemed rabid, Newsday reported at the time.

Before that positive confirmation from the state, rabies was not detected in land mammals in Suffolk for 16 years according to a Suffolk health department release.

Both hamlets border Nassau County, which reported rabies infections in six raccoons, one of which scratched and bit a resident of Massapequa Park who required post-exposure treatment, plus a pair of feral cats between July 2024 and January, Newsday has reported.

“We are very concerned that rabies is spreading along our western border, and we ask for the public’s help,” Suffolk County Department of Health Services Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott said in a statement issued Monday.

In years leading up to the recent string of infections, both Long Island counties only reported rabies in bats. Suffolk also reported rabies in a river otter found in Sound Beach in 2017, Newsday reported at the time.

The viral disease is transmissible to humans, typically through the bite or scratch of an infected animal, according to health officials.

Pigott encouraged Suffolk residents to ensure their pets are vaccinated, leash their dogs, cats and ferrets, corral livestock at night, avoid feeding stray animals and wildlife, and refrain from touching dead or dying wildlife.

Last month, Newsday reported the Suffolk health department announced a free rabies vaccine clinic for dogs, cats and ferrets on March 21 at the Eastern Suffolk BOCES H.B. Ward Technical Center in Riverhead. 

Abnormally acting raccoons can be reported to Suffolk police at 631-852-COPS or the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at 631-444-0250.

Animal bites, contact with wild animals and dead raccoon sightings can be reported to the Suffolk County Department of Health Services at 631-854-0333 on weekdays for 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or at 631-852-4820 outside of normal business hours.