SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico officials are urging people to vaccinate their pets and livestock after a raccoon and a fox found dead on ranch land in Sierra County tested positive for rabies.
Both animals were found about 15 miles southwest of Truth or Consequences.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta confirmed they had the Arizona gray fox rabies strain.
The New Mexico Department of Health says fox rabies has been a problem for decades in Arizona, and was first detected in western New Mexico in the Glenwood area in 2007.
Public health veterinarian Dr. Paul Ettestad says the virus has moved into Grant, Hidalgo and Sierra counties.
He says the latest cases show the strain is moving closer to human and animal populations in the Rio Grande Valley.
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