ARDMORE, PA – JUNE 14: A groundhog is seen on the sixth fairway during Round Two of the 113th U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club on June 14, 2013 in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Public health officials in the South Coast community of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, have issued a notice about a woodchuck at a well-known ice cream joint in town.
Anyone who had direct contact with a woodchuck at John George Ice Cream at around 5 p.m. on Sunday is being urged to contact their healthcare provider, or the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, for a rabies risk assessment.
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Health officials in the town said that woodchucks are considered high-risk in terms of transmitting rabies, warning that even ones that appear healthy may have the virus in their saliva.
People may be exposed to the virus if they have contact with saliva through a bite, scratch, fresh wound, eyes, nose or their mouth.
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Rabies post-exposure prophylaxis can be administered to prevent the disease after exposure.
Mass. DPH can be reached at 617-983-6800, 24 hours a day and seven days a week
