Disease Prevention

A fox in Lynchburg has tested positive for rabies. The fox was captured near an apartment complex in Lynchburg. The Virginia Department of Health is urging people not to feed wild animals because it could expose them to rabies. The agency would also...

April is Autism Awareness Month. The Blue Ridge Autism and Awareness Center is a non-profit center that serves around 100 students and 13 local school districts. They do intensive therapy, called Applied Behavior Analysis. They are also planning to...

A calf is the most recent animal to test positive for rabies in Pittsylvania County. Several animals in the past few months have been deemed rabid. On Monday the Virginia Department of Health announced that a calf tested positive in the Climax community...

Another raccoon has tested for rabies in Pittsylvania County. According to the Virginia Department of Health, a raccoon found near Whittle Street in Chatham has tested positive. A raccoon also tested positive near Hillside Road recently. The department...

There were more close votes on controversial legislation in the General Assembly Monday.   The Virginia Senate voted to carry over legislation that would have repealed the state's requirement that girls receive the HPV vaccine. And a Roanoke Senator...

A raccoon in Pittsylvania County has tested positive for rabies. Now, the Virginia Department of Health is warning residents of Hillside Road to vaccinate their animals. Rabies can be spread through a scratch or bite. The department of health is also...

The Virginia Department of Health says pertussis, or better known as whooping cough, is making a comeback. The Department of Health says cases in Virginia have doubled since 2007, and in the western part of the state reported cases have tripled between...

The Virginia House of Delegates has passed legislation repealing a requirement that girls receive a vaccine to prevent a virus that can cause cervical cancer. State law mandates the human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccination before girls reach sixth...

The House of Delegates has rejected a proposal to give parents information about a vaccine to prevent a virus that can lead to cervical cancer. Del. Chris Stolle of Virginia Beach offered the idea as an amendment to legislation repealing Virginia's...

Dog owners beware:  A rabid skunk was found at the dog park in Blacksburg. Health officials say the rabid skunk was killed by two dogs at the Blacksburg Dog Park on Tom's Creek Road, last weekend. It's the first confirmed rabies case in the New River...

A virus outbreak is threatening the health of dogs in Southwest Virginia. Distemper is a highly contageous airborne virus. It's symptoms include high fever, cough and vomiting. There have been several confirmed cases of canine distemper in Pulaski and...

Every day, about 3,800 American kids try a cigarette for the first time. A thousand of them will grow up to to have a daily smoking habit, and nearly 300 will wind up dead due to a smoking-related disease.  Those statistics would be depressing under...