Jackson County’s third confirmed case of rabies in 2012 occurred last week when a raccoon found in the Lebanon Church Road area near the Clarke County line tested positive for rabies.
Two dogs came in contact with the raccoon and are being quarantined.
The two other cases involved a cow reported the previous week in the Unity Church Road area near Maysville and another raccoon that turned up on Whitney Trace near Braselton.
Hall County officials reported that a bobcat tested positive for rabies near the Hall-Jackson line — in the vicinity where the cow was exposed.
Jackson County had just 11 confirmed cases of rabies during 2011, according to Keli Hinson, environmental health district director for the Northeast Health District. There were no confirmed cases of rabies in January 2011.
“The increase in cases for this January is probably due to the warmer weather for this time of year,” Hinson said.
She also speculated that the cow — which head-butted an elderly farmer before he shot it — was likely infected by exposure from a skunk or a raccoon that entered the pasture.
