Attacks by Rabid Raccoons Reported in McLean Area

Three men were attacked by rabid raccoons in two incidents this week in the McLean area, Fairfax County police said.

Two landscaping workers were believed bitten Thursday after a raccoon emerged from shrubbery near the 1400 block of Buena Vista Avenue, south of Old Dominion Drive and Dolley Madison Boulevard, police said.

A police spokeswoman said one man, 27, was from Aldie, and the other was from Montgomery County. Police said the incident is under investigation.

Authorities are urging both men to receive medical attention. The rabies virus, which is transmitted through saliva, is generally fatal if preventive treatment is not obtained. Dogs and cats are required to be vaccinated for rabies.

In the other incident, police said, a raccoon charged at a 19-year-old man who was getting out of his car at 7 p.m. Wednesday at his home in the 6900 block of Southridge Drive, about a mile south of the site of the other attack.

The raccoon, which one police spokeswoman said was not believed to be the same animal involved in the other incident, grabbed the man's pants leg and tried to bite him, but the man shook it off. The raccoon pursued the man's brother, 12, but did not catch him.