Georgetown County resident treated for rabies after touching dead raccoon

A Georgetown County resident is being treated by a doctor after touching a dead raccoon infected with rabies.

The unidentified individual was potentially exposed to rabies while handling a dead raccoon with bare hands on Feb. 5, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. The raccoon’s body was tested for disease on Feb. 8 and was confirmed to have rabies on Feb. 9, officials said.

The exposure occurred in Murrells Inlet, officials said.

“It's important to use caution around any wild animal, dead or alive,” said Sandra Craig, of DHEC's Bureau of Environmental Health Services. “Please keep this in mind if you find yourself in a situation where you have the potential to be exposed to the saliva or neural tissue (for example: brain or spinal cord) from any animal. Never handle a wild or stray animal with your bare hands.”

The raccoon is the first animal from Georgetown County to test positive for rabies in 2016, officials said. There have been 12 confirmed cases of rabies statewide this year.

There were a total of 130 confirmed cases of animal rabies in South Carolina in 2015, but none of the 2015 cases were from Georgetown County.

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Georgetown County resident treated for rabies after touching dead raccoon."