ITHACA, NY (WHCU) – Tompkins County health officials remind you not to bring wild animals into your home.

On or around May 15, a litter of five raccoon kits was brought into an apartment at Milton Meadows in Lansing after their mother died. Tompkins County Environmental Health says multiple community members could have been exposed to the animals, including a group of children who reportedly attended a birthday party on May 18.

Three kits have tested negative for rabies, one is being retested after initial results were inconclusive. Officials could not recover a fifth raccoon, so rabies transmission cannot be fully ruled out.

Anyone who may have been in contact with the animals is asked to contact Environmental Health at (607)-274-6688 immediately. Rabies can be transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal entering an open wound or a mucous membrane like your eyes, nose, or mouth. Rabies is life-threatening and treatment must begin as soon as possible.

“Raccoons are a rabies-vector species and should never be brought into your home,” said Tompkins County Whole Health Commissioner Frank Kruppa. “In Tompkins County, there are certified wildlife rehabilitation specialists who can assist in these circumstances. Certified wildlife rehab specialists are vaccinated for rabies and prepared to handle rabies-vector species such as raccoons, foxes, skunks and bats.”

Kruppa adds it is also illegal to bring wild animals into your home.

A list of wildlife rehabilitation specialists is available here.

Tompkins County Environmental Health – (607)-274-6688