Rabies alert issued for Myakka Valley Ranches in Sarasota

Myakka Valley Ranches is under a 60-day rabies alert after lab results confirmed the presence of rabies in a deer found by a property owner in the Sarasota County subdivision.

Tom Higginbotham, environmental health director for the Sarasota Department of Health, said it is uncommon for herbivores like the fawn to have the rabies virus. More high-risk animals tend to be carnivores.

The deer, which was euthanized in order to test its brain stem for rabies, was found uninjured, but showed signs of illness like face twitching, salivation, poor muscular coordination and no fear of humans.

The DOH said rabies exists in the wild animal population and that all unvaccinated domestic animals are at risk of infection. In Florida, rabies is typically connected to bites or scratches from raccoons, bats, foxes and unvaccinated outdoor cats, yet it can also spread by contact between an open wound, mouth, nose or eyes and saliva or nervous tissue of infected animals.

Authorities are still unsure of how the deer contracted the virus.

Myakka Valley Ranches is located off State Road 72, just west of Myakka River State Park.

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Rabies alert issued for Myakka Valley Ranches in Sarasota."