MAHWAH TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY — A beaver attacked several people, including an 8-year-old boy, at Lake Henry in Continental Soldiers Park in Mahwah Township, New Jersey, on Sunday, and later tested positive for rabies. The Mahwah Health Department disclosed the incident in a social media post on May 5, stating that the animal made contact with multiple people at the Bergen County lake.

Mahwah Police Capt. Michael Blondin said the boy was fishing on the Lake Henry shoreline at around 6 p.m. Sunday when a beaver exited the lake and charged him. One of the boy's relatives hurled the animal back into the lake after it followed them onto the shore.

Animal control personnel captured the beaver and determined that it showed signs of illness. Subsequent testing confirmed the animal was rabid.

Dawn Cetrulo said that all individuals exposed to or bitten by the beaver are receiving prophylactic treatment intended to prevent the spread of rabies and are recovering. County officials urged anyone who may have been attacked by or interacted with the beaver to seek medical help immediately.

Treatments can be administered to humans for a short time after a potential rabies exposure to prevent the disease from taking hold. Animals cannot be tested for rabies while alive, because diagnosis requires direct fluorescent antibody testing of brain tissue, which requires euthanasia.

Rabies is a viral disease that affects the nervous system and is typically spread through the bite or saliva of an infected animal. Undetected rabies usually has an incubation period of one to three months, although in some cases it can be up to a year with no symptoms. When symptoms develop, they at first appear flu-like before neurological damage begins. Unless immediate post-exposure treatment is given, rabies is almost universally fatal, often within 10 days of symptoms appearing. The disease is usually fatal in animals as well. Mahwah Township is located about 30 miles north of New York City.