Officials: Raccoon That Attacked NJ Boy Tests Positive For Rabies
ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A raccoon that attacked a 6-year-old New Jersey boy earlier this week has tested positive for rabies, officials said Friday.
Aryan Gavali, 6, was walking with his mother to the Sixteenth Avenue Elementary School in Elmwood Park just before 9 a.m. Wednesday when a large raccoon came running across the street, jumped on his back and began biting and scratching at his face.
Gavali suffered deep cuts on his face, especially under his right eye. The boy was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he received nine stitches. He was released from the hospital Thursday.
The raccoon was beaten to death by a man who witnessed the attack, as WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported.
Wildlife experts want everyone to be on the lookout for racoon rabies warning signs. Nocturnal animals should not be active in the daylight, and people should beware if a raccoon is aggressive, disoriented, and foaming at the mouth.
Residents should not feed, handle or approach wild animals.