Since Nov. 27, there have been four incidents in which a skunk, a fox and two bobcats have bitten or scratched people with suspected rabies, said Mark Hart, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Game and Fish.

“This is unusual,” Hart said, but the agency is not yet ready to call it an outbreak.

The latest attack occurred Sunday in the Rincon Mountain area of ​​Saguaro National Park, when a bobcat bit and scratched a man on Cactus Forest Drive. The man was treated at the emergency room and released after the attack, Hart said.

State wildlife officials rushed to the scene but were unable to find the animal. “We were out in the rain looking for it,” Hart said.

The National Park Service has its own Rabies warning in Saguaro The announcement was made on Tuesday after officials recently discovered several dead foxes in the national park. In addition to Sunday's bobcat attack, the park has also received reports of unusual behavior by foxes and raccoons.

Park officials said they have not yet recovered a carcass in sufficient condition to test the animal for rabies.

The only confirmed case to date was a bobcat that attacked a woman in her carport off Redington Pass Road east on Nov. 27, Hart said. The animal was captured and killed by authorities before testing positive for the deadly disease.

Rabies is also suspected in the Dec. 27 incident involving a gray fox at Molino Basin Campground in the Catalina Mountains. Hart said the fox bit one person and tried to attack another, but that person chased it away with a mountain bike.

The fourth attack occurred on Jan. 13 in Madera Canyon, when a skunk bit a man and chased several others at the Proctor Trailhead.

Neither the skunk nor the fox were recovered, but Hart said late-stage rabies was suspected in both cases.

Viral diseases are usually spread through the saliva of infected animals as a result of bites, scratches, or contact with mucous membranes. Although curable if proper medical care is received soon after infection, the virus is almost always fatal, even in humans, if it progresses untreated.

There is no need to avoid the outdoors, even in areas where recent attacks have occurred, but officials said people should be on the lookout for strange animal behavior. Warning signs include unsteady movements, disorientation, extreme thirst, excessive salivation, and aggression.

But regardless of their behavior, wild animals should be observed from a safe and respectful distance and should never be touched, officials said.

The Park Service also reminded visitors to vaccinate their pets against rabies, keep them on a 6-foot leash at all times, and only take them on permitted trails. Park officials say pets should be seen by a veterinarian if they have had close contact with or been bitten by a wild animal.

Mr Hart said rabies is “always present in wild animal populations” and the most frequent vectors are bats, foxes and skunks.

Still, confirmed cases are relatively rare. Statistics show fewer than 60 wild animals tested positive for the virus across the state last year. Arizona Department of Health Services.

Of the 26 confirmed cases in Pima County in 2023, all were bats, except for a bobcat near Redington Pass Road.

To report a potentially rabid animal or other wildlife incident, call the Arizona Game and Fish Department's 24-hour dispatch center at 623-236-7201.