The Cochise County Sheriff’s office says the USDA has notified them of another gray fox that tested positive for rabies in the county.
 
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Carol Capas said that due to a drought in Southern Arizona, the agency expected to see an uptick in interactions between human and wildlife as well as possible increases in rabies.

Capas says between January 2017 and January 2018 there have been 14 cases of gray fox rabies in Cochise County alone.

“The sheer number of gray foxes testing positive in a short amount of time equals over one per month so it is cause for concern especially when we anticipate the drought causing more cases of animals to come closer to populated areas.

Statewide data shows there were 33 rabid foxes in 2017, compared with five the prior year. So far in 2018, there have already been nine confirmed cases of rabid foxes according to Jessica Rigler, branch chief of public Health Preparedness for Arizona Department of Health Services.