DC Department of Health officials said in a statement Thursday that the kits – as the baby foxes are called – were “pulled from the female fox’s den” on Tuesday. She underwent euthanasia and tested positive for rabies. Health officials said “the mother tested positive for rabies and the kits could have been exposed during the treatment or by other means. “They were no longer able to recover safely and were euthanized.” The foxes have gained a lot of attention this week on social media and in the Capitol after the fox mother bit nine people. Health officials said they had come in contact with “all the human victims who were bitten by the fox”. Animal control officers arrested the mother fox on Tuesday morning after attacking one of the police officers. Fox was caught in the Capitol and euthanized positive for rabies To find out if an animal has rabies, it must be euthanized and samples taken from its brain tissue so that laboratory tests can be performed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 120,000 animals are tested for rabies in the United States each year, and of those, about 6 percent were found to be rabies. U.S. Capitol police officers involved in the fox epic said they were “not sure how long” the foxes had been around the Capitol. Health officials said “no more foxes were found” on the ground, but warned that “it would not be unusual to see more” because they were “present” throughout the city. City officials said they would not “gather healthy foxes in the area” and would only intervene to “remove wildlife if they are sick or injured” or if someone had been exposed and needed a rabies test. They urged anyone who encountered an “aggressive, sick or injured fox” to contact Animal Control at 202-723-5730. People who are bitten by angry animals are encouraged to seek medical attention and make a series of shots to deal with it. Lauren Crossed, head of wildlife program at the Humane Rescue Alliance, whose crews were involved in catching the raging fox on Tuesday, said it was “very common” for mother foxes to protect their hideouts and kits. But he said the fox “showed unusual aggression, extending a much larger area” than experts would expect for a “fox that just protects its nest”. Usually foxes protect their immediate area, he said, but she “traveled squares to attack humans.” The fox became big news on social media on Tuesday and even had her own Twitter account. On Tuesday, MP Ami Bera (D-Calif.) Said in a telephone interview that she was among those attacked at about 5 a.m. Monday as she walked near the Russell Senate office building. With plenty of attention, Bera said, he saw a doctor and began a series of treatments for rabies, including immunoglobulin vaccines and a tetanus vaccine, to fight the disease if exposed.
