(VIDEO) North Carolina Boy Faces Six Rabies Shots After Mobile Petting Zoo Goats Test Positive for the Virus

MOCKSVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina family is racing through a series of rabies vaccinations for their 4-year-old son after learning that baby goats he petted at a mobile petting zoo tested positive for the virus, part of a broader public health response now underway across the state.

Rebecca Lanning, 30, of Marion, said she received a call from her son's aunt last Friday informing her that her son had been exposed to rabies. The family had visited a dinosaur-themed exhibit in Mocksville 13 days earlier, on Aug. 15, an event that also featured food trucks, carnival games and a petting zoo where the boy fed baby goats by hand. "I didn't think anything of it until Friday, when his aunt called me and was like, 'Hey, we have a situation,'" Lanning said.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday that three baby goats from the petting zoo had tested positive for rabies. Those animals, along with a fourth goat suspected of carrying the virus, have since been euthanized.

Lanning immediately took her son to the doctor, where he received the first two of six required doses of the rabies vaccine, a regimen known as post-exposure prophylaxis. The shots are administered after a possible exposure in an effort to stop the virus before it can take hold in the body. Once symptoms of a rabies infection begin, the disease, which attacks the brain and spinal cord, is almost always fatal. The vaccine is nearly 100% effective at preventing the disease, but only when it is administered before symptoms appear.

People can become infected with rabies through contact with the saliva of an infected animal, or through a bite or scratch. Lanning said the uncertainty of her son's specific interactions with the goats has weighed on her heavily in the days since learning of the exposure. "My fear is that if he was feeding the goats, and he's 4, who's to say that he didn't touch his mouth or eyes?" Lanning said. "I don't want to bury my child."

Rabies symptoms typically take weeks to months to appear after exposure, and can initially resemble the flu, including weakness, fatigue, fever and headaches. According to the North Carolina health department, people may also experience a prickling or itching sensation at the site where they were touched or bitten by an infected animal.

As of Monday, the state health department said it did not have an estimate of how many people may have been exposed to the infected goats. The animals were part of a North Carolina-based mobile petting zoo operation called Farm Adventures, which had appeared at events across the state between July 28 and Aug. 23. Beyond the Mocksville dinosaur exhibit, the goats were also brought to private gatherings, including birthday parties and a back-to-school celebration, as well as a visit to an assisted living center.

A representative for Farm Adventures did not respond to a request for comment. The company addressed the situation in a post on its Facebook page, stating that its goats, which were too young to have been vaccinated against rabies themselves, appeared to have contracted the virus after a skunk got into their enclosure. Skunks are among the animals most commonly known to carry and transmit rabies, along with bats, raccoons and foxes.

In a statement, the North Carolina health department said it is "working with local health departments and healthcare systems to make sure rabies post-exposure prophylaxis is available to anyone who needs it," as officials work to identify and reach others who may have come into contact with the infected animals during their weeks on the road.

The incident comes amid what public health officials say is a broader increase in rabies exposures nationally in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 1.4 million Americans are evaluated annually for possible rabies exposure, with about 100,000 people ultimately receiving post-exposure prophylaxis shots each year. Health officials continue to urge caution around wild and unfamiliar animals, along with prompt medical attention following any bite, scratch or direct contact with an animal's saliva, given how critical early treatment is to preventing the disease from becoming fatal.