08/29/2026
🚨 Rabies Warning for Anyone Who Touched These Goats in Burke County
Friday, August 28, 2026 — 10:00 PM
HICKORY, N.C. — People across the region may have been exposed to rabies after handling goats from a traveling petting zoo, and health officials spent Friday night urging anyone who touched, held or fed the animals to call a nurse immediately.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Friday that goats associated with the mobile petting zoo tested positive for rabies. Health departments in Burke County, Catawba County and several other counties were notified.
WHERE THE GOATS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN
Aug. 9 — A private event at a venue on Miller Mills Road in Burke County. The address carries a Hickory mailing address but the property sits inside Burke County. Burke County Public Health says this is the only location in the county the petting zoo is known to have visited.
Aug. 1 — The Community Connections event at Breeden Amphitheater in Lexington, in Davidson County.
Catawba County Public Health said no exposure sites inside Catawba County had been identified as of late Friday afternoon, but that Catawba residents may well have attended the Burke County party given how close it is to the county line.
The investigation is ongoing and both counties say additional locations may still be identified. Anyone who had contact with goats at any petting zoo event in August should call their county health department to be safe.
WHO TO CALL
Burke County residents: Beverley Ward, RN, at (828) 764-1165.
Catawba County residents: the county's communicable disease nurses at (828) 695-5769.
A statewide call center has also been set up at (336) 242-2371. It was open Friday until 8 p.m. and is scheduled to reopen Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
WHY THIS CANNOT WAIT
Rabies spreads through the saliva of an infected animal. Anyone who touched, held or fed the goats may have been exposed and is generally advised to begin rabies prophylaxis right away, because the treatment prevents symptoms from ever developing.
Symptoms can take weeks or months to appear, and health officials said no one should wait for fever, headache or weakness before calling, even though the Burke County party was nearly three weeks ago.
"Rabies is not a disease we can take risks with because it is almost always fatal once symptoms develop," said Catawba County Public Health Director Jennifer McCracken, RN, BSN, MPA.
WHAT THE PETTING ZOO SAYS
The business is Farm Adventures, based in Iredell County. In a statement posted to its page, the zoo said four baby goats were kept in a pen separate from the other animals and were too young to have received their vaccinations.
"We unfortunately encountered a skunk in their pen, which we promptly removed and disposed of," the zoo wrote, adding that the skunk bit the goats during the removal.
All four goats — named Molly, Maggie, Cow and Uno — have been euthanized to stop the virus from spreading. The zoo said its remaining animals are being monitored under guidelines from health officials, and that it is working with public health officials, the state Department of Agriculture and animal control.
Because the Aug. 9 Burke County event was private, Catawba County Public Health said there is no risk to the general public.
This is a developing story. Catawba Valley News & Weather will update it as more is confirmed.
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Image: Zoo Adventures (Molly, Maggie, Cow and Uno)
