MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Three additional cases of rabies have been found in foxes in a southern Oregon county this month, pushing the total to seven cases this year.
The Mail Tribune reported that rabies was confirmed in foxes found on Nov. 5 and 17 in the Cave Junction area and on Nov. 18 in the Merlin area in Josephine County.
Four previous cases of rabies in foxes were all in the Cave Junction area.
Health officials said an increase in gray fox populations and stepped-up rabies monitoring by wildlife authorities may explain the increase.
Before the first fox with rabies was discovered in January in Josephine County, no confirmed cases of rabies in foxes had been reported in Oregon in a decade.
