Person exposed to rabies by wild fox in Lexington County

For the 7th time this year, a wild animal in Lexington has tested positive for rabies after exposing someone to the disease.

State health officials report a fox infected with rabies bit the person who was caring for it on Saturday, July 11 in the Seven Oaks area of the county. The fox was in captivity being treated for an injury, DHEC spokesman Jim Beasley said.

The unidentified person who was bitten has been referred to their doctor to start preventative rabies treatments. The age and gender information about victims is not released to protect their identity, Beasley said.

After the incident Saturday, the fox was euthanized and tests confirmed the rabies infection on Monday, DHEC said in a news release.

So far this year, there have been 78 confirmed cases of rabies-infected animals in South Carolina.

Every year about 275 people in South Carolina have to undergo preventative rabies treatment, Sandra Craig of DHEC's Bureau of Environmental Health Services (BEHS) said.

"To reduce the risk of getting rabies, we recommend that people avoid wild animals acting tame and tame animals acting wild," she said.