Bobcat that attacked a camper in Connecticut tests positive for rabies

LYME, Conn. (AP) — A bobcat that attacked a camper in a hammock at a Connecticut state park has tested positive for rabies.

The man was among several adults leading a group of young campers last week in Selden Neck State Park, an island in the Connecticut River in Lyme, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said in a news release Monday.

The man was sleeping early Friday when the bobcat attacked him, the department said. He and two other adult leaders subdued the animal and killed it, officials said.

All three men were taken to a hospital with injuries inflicted by the cat. None of the children on the outing came into contact with the animal, authorities said.

“When unprovoked attacks do occur, they are generally disease or illness related,” Paul Copleman, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement. “While rabies is not as common in bobcats as some other mammal species, they can contract the virus.”

Treatment after exposure to rabies to prevent development of the fatal disease is typical, though the department had no information on whether the men who came in contact with the infected bobcat received such treatment.