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The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control also revealed Tuesday that the raccoon originally was adopted by Okatie residents visiting Wexford Plantation on Hilton Head Island. Last week, DHEC would only say that the animal was found on Hilton Head.
The state agency has now evaluated 33 Okatie and Georgia residents for possible exposure to the rabid animal, said DHEC spokeswoman Clair Boatwright.
Initially, 16 people had come in contact with the animal through kissing, holding and feeding it by putting their fingers in its mouth, DHEC said. Now, 24 are getting vaccinated to prevent them from contracting rabies, DHEC said Tuesday. The other nine were exposed to the raccoon, but did not need treatment. Boatwright said those nine did not touch the animal, but were part of the investigation.
Boatwright said 17 pets belonging to the exposed humans are under quarantine for 45 days.
The people who found the raccoon in the woods at Wexford passed it around to many of their friends and relatives, Boatwright said.
"They found it, took it to somebody else who kept it for a few days and thought someone else would want it," she said. "It was the pass-around-pack for a while from what we understand."
Chuck Chapman, chief of security at Wexford, said he has not gotten any recent reports about rabid animals or the baby raccoon found in the plantation.
"We get calls periodically from people involving animals, whether alligators or what appears to be sick or angry animals like stray dogs," Chapman said. "We never get a call from somebody who says, 'Hey I picked up a raccoon in the woods and I'm taking it home.' "
Chapman said if wild animals are sick or causing problems in the plantation, he contacts Critter Management to remove the animal. He would also call DHEC if the animal had bitten a resident.
DHEC urges everyone to avoid touching or adopting a wild animal and to report any bites from potentially rabid animals.
"You just cannot tell from looking at it whether it's diseased or not," Boatwright said.
The raccoon began having seizures last week, was euthanized and its body sent to DHEC. The agency confirmed it tested positive for rabies.
This is the first confirmed rabid animal in Beaufort County for 2008. Last year, there were 162 confirmed cases of rabid animals across the state; none were in Beaufort County.
