LOUISA COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) – Two Spotsylvania County sisters are recovering after being bitten by a rabid beaver.
Sisters Annabella and Alyssa Radnovich were bitten while swimming in Lake Anna near Sorbie Cove at about 11 a.m. Sunday. They were transported by ambulance to Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, where they were treated and released.
Their girls’ mother said Alyssa, 11, received 15 stitches on her upper thigh and Annabell, 8, had bandages covering three wounds just above her knee.
Sheriff’s deputies in Louisa County said the girls’ uncle shot the beaver with a BB gun, then killed it with a knife. The Louisa Sheriff’s Office then turned the animal over to the health department for testing.
As of June 30, there had been 286 confirmed cases of animal rabies statewide this year, according to the Virginia Department of Health. This is the first confirmed case of a beaver with rabies in 2012.
This story was first reported by the Fox affiliate in Washington.
