- Written by Jennifer King, Public Information Officer
- Category: Media Releases
Cherokee County, GA – Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Cherokee County Health Department's Canton and Woodstock Health Centers closed early today, Thursday, April 21st. We apologize for this inconvenience, but both health centers will reopen tomorrow morning, Friday, April 22nd. Please find here on our website the address, phone number and clinic hours for each of these health centers at https://nghd.org/nghd-locations-listing/category/cherokee.
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- Written by Jennifer King, Public Information Officer
- Category: Media Releases
Ellijay, GA – The Mako Medical Drive-thru COVID-19 Test site in Ellijay will be closed on Friday, April 22nd, due to another scheduled event at the Gilmer County Civic Center Parks and Recreation location where the test site operates.
All MAKO Medical COVID-19 testing locations and normal operating hours in North Georgia are:
Public health officials continue to urge people to get tested for COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status, if they have COVID-19 type symptoms or have been in recent close contact to a person infected with the virus.
COVID-19 testing is free at these sites and there are no eligibility requirements other than having a Georgia address and registering at https://mako.exchange/splash/GAmakotesting/. This is PCR testing done by a mid-nasal swab to determine the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19. It is not an antigen or antibody test.
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- Written by Jennifer King, Public Information Officer
- Category: Media Releases
Dalton, GA – According to Whitfield County Environmental Health Manager Chad Mulkey, a woman residing near a forested area in southeast Whitfield County reported on Friday, April 8th that two of her dogs killed a skunk as it ate dog food in their pen.
The incident occurred in the Tilton Road, SE and Nance Springs Drive, SE area.
Mulkey instructed the woman on how to refrigerate the skunk over the weekend until he could ship it for rabies testing.
The head was shipped to the Georgia Public Health Laboratory on Monday the 11th and the positive test results were returned late in the day on Tuesday, April 12th.
The dog owner was informed of the results the following morning. Because the dogs had immediately licked her hands where there were open scratches, Mulkey advised her to speak with her personal physician and the Georgia Poison Control Center to determine if preventive post-exposure rabies treatment would be advisable. Generally, this kind of secondary contact through pets is not considered human rabies exposure, buteach case must be considered individually and is a decision between the person and their physician with recommendations from public health.
Once clinical symptoms appear, rabies is virtually 100% fatal. In up to 99% of cases, domestic dogs are responsible for rabies virus transmission to humans. Rabies can affect both domestic and wild mammals. It is spread to people and among mammal species through direct bites or scratches from the infected animal.
The dogs involved in this case were previously vaccinated against rabies at least twice prior to this incident, so they will only need a booster shot and close observation.
Health officials urge residents to be wary of any unfamiliar animals, both domestic and wild, and to maintain rabies vaccinations in their pets.
For more information about rabies and its prevention, log onto www.cdc.gov/rabies.
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- Written by Jennifer King, Public Information Officer
- Category: Media Releases
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North GA – MAKO Medical drive-thru COVID-19 testing will end in Blue Ridge, Chatsworth and Jasper, as of Thursday, April 14th. The MAKO test sites that will remain open in North Georgia are those in Dalton, Ellijay and Woodstock.
Now that COVID-19 cases are decreasing in Georgia and home test kits have become easily accessible, the volume of residents seeking services from these test sites is declining.
Public health officials continue to urge people to get tested for COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status, if they have COVID-19 type symptoms or have been in close contact recently to a person infected with the virus.
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