The coyote that lunged at and bit a 5-year-old girl at a playground in Westchester County has tested positive for rabies.
County health officials say the coyote was captured by an off-duty Irvington police officer and was shot by a Mount Pleasant police officer after it bit the girl on her arm Sunday evening at the park in Thornwood. Everyone who came into contact with the animal, or its saliva, is being evaluated to determine the need for preventive rabies treatment. If left untreated, rabies is fatal. Unusual behavior may be the first sign of rabies in an animal. A rabid animal may become abnormally aggressive or unusually tame. In Westchester, all animal bites or contacts with animals suspected of having rabies must be reported to the county health department.
