New York woman is twice attacked by rabid fox infected by rabies

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Fox Chews: Terrifying video shows the moment a rabid fox sneaks up and savagely attacks New York woman in her own backyard as she valiantly fights off the animal with the help of her neighbor

  • The unidentified woman is a cousin of CBS 21 News meteorologist Ed Russo
  • ‘A cousin of mine was attacked by a rabid fox in Ithaca, NY. She’s OK. But geez this video is crazy!,’ the weatherman tweeted on Tuesday
  • The attack, which happened on July 25 at 2:30pm, starts when the woman leaves her home to talk on her phone 
  • The fox aggressively pursued the woman several times, biting and scratching her on the arms and legs
  • She managed to kick it several times before her neighbor came to the rescue with a stick, frightening the fox away
  • The fox was eventually killed by another person in the area, and tested positive for rabies at a Cornell University laboratory  

Terrifying surveillance footage shows the moment when a woman in upstate New York is attacked by a rabid fox twice in her own yard.

The unidentified woman is a cousin of CBS 21 News meteorologist Ed Russo, who reports from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

‘A cousin of mine was attacked by a rabid fox in Ithaca, NY. She’s OK. But geez this video is crazy!,’ the weatherman tweeted on Tuesday. 

The video was first shared on Facebook by the victim’s husband, Paul Russo, on Sunday. It has been taken down, as of Wednesday afternoon.

‘My wife was attacked by a rabid fox this past July,’ he wrote online. ‘Our friend edited the security camera footage and made this educational video for us to post to alert everyone that this can happen to anyone.’

The attack, which happened on July 25 at 2:30pm, starts when the woman leaves her home through its front door to talk on her phone.


An unidentified woman living in Ithaca, New York, was attacked by a fox with rabies in July while out in her yard on a phone call. She was bitten and scratched on her arms and legs while trying to get the animal off of her

At one point, the woman even managed to make the fox flip after grabbing it by its tail

And while she stands in her front yard engaged in conversation, the fox sneaks up behind her and savagely bites her leg. 

The woman then scrambles around in circles, lifting one foot above the other, in an attempt to get the fox off her leg. 

At one point, she seems so unfazed by the rabid animal that she decides to pick it up with her hands before slamming it on the ground. 

The fox, however, does not hold back and starts jumping on the woman before she takes a couple of steps back and kicks it. 

The fox is still relentless in its pursuit of the woman and comes back to attack but the woman surprisingly grabs it in full swing before going in circles.

She then tries to throw the fox far away, but it seems as if the animal is biting her hand, prompting her to scream. The woman eventually flings the fox off of her. One of her shoes also goes flying, video shows. 

The persistent fox then appears to be charging at the victim once more before a man with a stick steps in and attempts to whack the animal. The woman, though, manages to kick the fox one more time as it vies to bite into her loose shoe.    

The animal then backflips and lands on its back, before fleeing away after the man with the stick threatens it from up close. 

WOMAN VS FOX: The fox was relentless in its attack, aggressively pursuing the woman several times before her neighbor stepped in with a stick

The victim managed to kick the fox one last time before it was frightened away when her neighbor, who had a stick in his hands, came up close to it

It was eventually killed after attacking another person in the area, according to the New York Post. The fox was then taken to a laboratory at Cornell University, where it was confirmed that it had rabies.

The woman, on the other hand, came out of the attack with large bites and scratches to her hands and legs, The Post reported.

‘It was a beautiful animal and I didn’t want to hurt it,’ the woman is quoted in the footage of her attack with the fox. ‘Unfortunately, I had no choice but to fight back, because I couldn’t get away. I thank God my neighbor showed up.’

Rabies is caused by a virus that invades the central nervous system and is usually fatal in animals and humans. It’s most commonly spread through a bite from an infected animal, with most U.S. infections in recent years traced to bat encounters.

Infection can cause insomnia, anxiety, confusion, paralysis, salivating, hallucinations, difficulty swallowing and fear of water.

Death can occur only a couple of weeks after symptoms begin. But it can be prevented through a series of five shots given within two weeks of exposure.

An estimated 60,000 Americans are treated each year after possible exposure to rabies, the CDC says. Five Americans died of rabies last year — the largest number in a decade — and health officials said that some of the people didn’t realize they had been infected or refused life-saving shots.

There were no rabies deaths reported in 2019 or 2020. The last time five U.S. rabies deaths were reported in a single year was 2011, CDC officials said.

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