Last week, a rabid gray fox attacked a man while he was doing yard work.

The fox ran up behind the man and bit him on the ankle outside his home just north of downtown Freeport on April 10. A wildlife control agent went to the area soon after and caught and killed the fox, taking it to the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory in Augusta to be tested for rabies, according to Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spokesperson Mark Latti.

The test confirmed the fox was infected with rabies. Living animals can’t be tested for the virus, as the test requires brain tissue. Rabies is nearly always fatal if not treated before symptoms appear.

According to the Division of Disease Surveillance under the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the last time a fox tested positive for rabies in Cumberland County was in 2023. However, Brunswick and Bath in Sagadahoc County have been grappling with rabies cases, often involving attacks on people and pets, for years.

Rabies, found in the saliva of infected animals, is spread through bites or scratches, since animals routinely lick their paws. Rabies is most commonly found in raccoons, foxes, skunks, bats and woodchucks in Maine.

Signs of a rabid animal include mobility problems, excessive drooling or foaming at the mouth, and abnormal levels of aggression.

Vaccines are considered the best way to prevent the spread of rabies; state law requires cats and dogs over the age of 3 months to be vaccinated against the virus. Human rabies vaccines are available and also used as treatment if a person is bitten by a suspected rabid animal. Those vaccines are nearly 100% effective at preventing the disease if administered before or soon after a bite.