{"id":17004,"date":"2026-01-20T12:32:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=17004"},"modified":"2026-02-02T09:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T14:47:18","slug":"raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>January 16, 2026<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>For More Information Contact: Toinette Waldon, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">toinette.waldon@vdh.virginia.gov<\/span>; RaShel Charles, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">rashel.charles@vdh.virginia.gov<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>HOPEWELL, Va.- The Crater Health District has received confirmation that a raccoon has tested positive for the rabies virus near Norton Street in Hopewell, VA.\u00a0 The Hopewell Health Department\/Crater Health District and the Hopewell Animal Service Unit encourage animal owners to confirm that all pet vaccinations are current and report any stray animals.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone with information regarding this animal&#8217;s exposure (bite, scratch, or contact with saliva by open wound or eyes, nose, or mouth) should contact the Crater Health District Environmental Health Office, at 804-863-1652. Exposures include direct contact between your pet and the rabid animal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease notify public health officials or animal control immediately if you live near Norton Street. and think you or your pet(s) had contact with the infected raccoon. The community\u2019s safety is our priority. Make sure your pets are vaccinated, especially against rabies, \u201csaid Crater Health District Director Alton Hart, Jr., MD, MPH, MDiv.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRabies is a preventable disease. Vaccinate your pets, avoid contact with wild animals, and seek immediate care if bitten, \u201csaid Toinette Waldon, Environmental Health Manager, Crater Health District.<\/p>\n<p>The Health Department strongly advises that people take the following steps to prevent families and pets from being exposed to rabies:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Vaccinate all cats, dogs, and ferrets against rabies and keep them up to date.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid contact with wild animals or stray cats and dogs.<\/li>\n<li>Report stray animals to your local animal control agency.<\/li>\n<li>Enjoy wildlife from a distance \u2013 don\u2019t feed or encourage wild animals or stray cats and dogs to visit your premises.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/animal-contact-human-health\/rabies-control\/\">Rabies<\/a> is linked to a virus that attacks the nervous system and can be deadly if not properly treated. If you are bitten by a wild or stray animal, wash the wound(s) thoroughly with warm soapy water and contact animal control, your healthcare provider or the Crater Health District.<\/p>\n<p>To report a stray and\/or suspicious animal, please contact Hopewell Animal Services Unit at (804) 541-2204. If you have concerns about exposure to rabies, contact your healthcare provider immediately. For more information on protecting your family from rabies, call 804-863-1652 or visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/animal-contact-human-health\/rabies-control\/\">the VDH Rabies webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em># # #<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>January 16, 2026 For More Information Contact: Toinette Waldon, toinette.waldon@vdh.virginia.gov; RaShel Charles, rashel.charles@vdh.virginia.gov Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City HOPEWELL, Va.- The Crater Health District has received confirmation that a raccoon has tested positive for the rabies virus near Norton Street in Hopewell, VA.\u00a0 The Hopewell Health Department\/Crater Health District and the Hopewell [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":0,"parent":16853,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[244,372,1140,690,1219],"class_list":["post-17004","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-animal-rabies","tag-crater-health-district","tag-dr-alton-hart","tag-hopewell","tag-toinette-waldon"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"January 16, 2026 For More Information Contact: Toinette Waldon, toinette.waldon@vdh.virginia.gov; RaShel Charles, rashel.charles@vdh.virginia.gov Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City HOPEWELL, Va.- The Crater Health District has received confirmation that a raccoon has tested positive for the rabies virus near Norton Street in Hopewell, VA.\u00a0 The Hopewell Health Department\/Crater Health District and the Hopewell [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-02T14:47:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\\\/\",\"name\":\"Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City - Newsroom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-20T17:32:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-02T14:47:18+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"2026 Regional News Releases\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City - Newsroom","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City - Newsroom","og_description":"January 16, 2026 For More Information Contact: Toinette Waldon, toinette.waldon@vdh.virginia.gov; RaShel Charles, rashel.charles@vdh.virginia.gov Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City HOPEWELL, Va.- The Crater Health District has received confirmation that a raccoon has tested positive for the rabies virus near Norton Street in Hopewell, VA.\u00a0 The Hopewell Health Department\/Crater Health District and the Hopewell [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_modified_time":"2026-02-02T14:47:18+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\/","name":"Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City - Newsroom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-01-20T17:32:06+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-02T14:47:18+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/raccoon-tests-positive-for-rabies-in-hopewell-city\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newsroom","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"2026 Regional News Releases","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Raccoon Tests Positive for Rabies in Hopewell City"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/258"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17004"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17243,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17004\/revisions\/17243"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}