A costly cuddle: Adopted rabid raccoon costs state more than $43,000

State health officials have finished a costly investigation into the exposure of more than 35 people and 20 pets to a rabid raccoon found in Wexford Plantation on Hilton Head Island.

The investigation by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control cost the agency $43,028.50.

An Okatie family found the 3-week-old raccoon earlier this month while visiting the upscale gated community. They adopted the wild animal, held it, kissed it and fed it by putting their fingers in its mouth. They passed it around to 36 of their friends and relatives in Beaufort County and Georgia.

Of those exposed to the animal, 24 are receiving shots to prevent them from contracting the fatal slow-moving disease.

The other 12 did not need treatment because they did not touch the animal or come in contact with its saliva, which is how the disease spreads, said DHEC spokeswoman Clair Boatwright.

Twenty pets owned by those exposed to the disease also were evaluated for possible exposure and 16 of those -- two dogs and 14 cats -- are quarantined.

All the pets have received rabies vaccinations and booster shots. They must remain in quarantine for 45 days, which ends June 20.

The rabies vaccines and prevention shots cost DHEC about $1,000 per person, totaling $36,677.75. Adding in personnel time, the investigation cost more than $43,000.

"Not all rabies exposures can be avoided," Boatwright said in an e-mail Tuesday. "But this easily could have been avoided by avoiding wild animals and refraining from adopting them."