Fox suspected of biting 2 at Lake Harriet tests positive for rabies

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - The fox suspected of biting two people near Lake Harriet tested positive for rabies, according to Minneapolis city officials.

Earlier this week, two people were bitten by a fox near Lake Harriet Parkway and West Minnehaha Parkway. The suspected fox was captured on Wednesday, euthanized, and tested for rabies.

Susan Obmoin of Eagan got her first round of rabies shots on Tuesday. She didn’t even see the fox sneak up on her -- just felt a pain in her leg as she was pulling  her bike off her car. 

“It latched onto my leg and I screamed and all of Lake Harriet heard me,” she said. “I had to reach down with my hands and open its mouth to get it off of me.”

Wednesday morning, in nearly the same spot, a man out for a jog around the lake stopped to stretch and was also bitten in the leg. A few hours later, Minneapolis Animal Care and Control captured a fox a few blocks away that was acting oddly aggressive and trotting right out in the open -- a sign of rabies.

Everyone who came in contact with the fox, including those bitten, have been evaluated by the Minnesota Department of Health and are receiving care. Rabies is nearly always fatal, but its symptoms don’t show up for months. Once they do, it’s typically too late for the treatments to stop it.

Wild skunks and bats commonly carry rabies. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, other wild and domestic animals usually get infected by being bitten by a rabid skunk.

City officials are reminding people to not approach wild animals and to keep pets vaccinated to help prevent the spread of the disease.

RECAP: Fox captured, killed after woman is bit near Lake Harriet