The Florida Department of Health (DOH) in Broward County issued a rabies alert this week after confirming a case in a raccoon killed in Davie near Interstate 595.

Rabies is a viral disease spread mostly through bites or scratches from an infected, usually wild, animal . Doctors treat about 1.4 million people each year in the U.S. for potential rabies exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That's why doctors urge patients to steer clear of wild animals like raccoons, bats, foxes, skunks, otters, bobcats, and coyotes, which carry a higher risk of human exposure and a need for rabies post-exposure treatment, according to the health department.

About 4,000 animal cases of rabies are reported in the U.S. each year, primarily in wild animals like racco

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