RALEIGH, N.C. (NCN News) — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed multiple rabies cases in baby goats at a mobile petting zoo located in Iredell County. Several goats at Farm Adventures have tested positive for rabies by the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health and may have been in direct contact with people at events while infectious.
Anyone who had contact with baby goats from the Farm Adventures mobile petting zoo either at their location in Harmony, North Carolina, or at an off-site event, between July 28 and Aug. 27, 2026, should contact their local health department to determine whether medications are needed to prevent infection.
The petting zoo held off-site events involving children and elderly individuals across multiple counties within that time frame. Organizers of these offsite events are being notified. This investigation is ongoing and additional information about potential exposure locations at public events will be released once available.
Rabies is a deadly disease that can spread from wild animals to pets and people, primarily through a bite, scratch or when infected saliva touches broken skin or mucous membranes. Human rabies infections are extremely rare in the United States. No human cases have been reported in North Carolina since 2011.
Rabies is almost always fatal in mammals, including people, unless medications to prevent infections are given before symptoms develop. Symptoms can begin weeks to months after someone is exposed. Early symptoms are flu-like illness including weakness, fever or headache as well as a prickling or itching sensation where someone was bitten or exposed.
In 2025, over 4,000 animals were submitted to the NC State Laboratory of Public Health for rabies testing, and of these, approximately 6% tested positive. In North Carolina the disease most often occurs in wild animals especially skunks, raccoons, bats and foxes.