Her son fed goats at a petting zoo. Now he has to get rabies shots. - NBC News

Three baby goats at a North Carolina mobile petting zoo called Farm Adventures tested positive for rabies, prompting a statewide effort to locate everyone who came into contact with them, the state health department announced Aug. 29, 2026.
Rebecca Lanning, 30, of Marion, learned her 4-year-old son had been exposed after the family visited a dinosaur exhibit in Mocksville on Aug. 15, where the boy fed baby goats by hand.
The three infected goats, along with a fourth suspected case, were euthanized; the animals had appeared at events statewide from July 28 through Aug. 23, including birthday parties, a back-to-school bash and an assisted living facility.
Lanning's son has begun post-exposure prophylaxis, receiving three of six required rabies vaccine shots, which are nearly 100% effective if administered before symptoms appear.
Rabies spreads through the saliva, scratches or bites of an infected animal, and symptoms — which can take weeks to months to emerge — begin with flu-like weakness, fever and headaches, plus prickling or itching at the exposure site.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said it could not yet estimate how many people were exposed to the infected goats, underscoring the scale of the tracing effort.