Nassau County health officials issued an order of an imminent public health threat due to the spread of rabies.

There have been 25 positive rabies tests since last July, according to county health officials. County Health Commissioner Dr. Irina Gelman said there are four additional suspected cases currently out for testing at the Wadsworth Center in Albany.

This marks the worst situation of rabies in Nassau County in nearly a decade, since the county announced it had eradicated terrestrial rabies in 2016.

“There is no cause for alarm as we have not yet received any reports of human transmission," Gelman said. "However, the time for prevention is now. We are working diligently and doing everything within our power to proactively keep that from happening.”

Twenty-two of the confirmed cases in Nassau were in raccoons and three in feral cats, according to officials.

In January, county health officials said rabid animals were confirmed in Cedarhurst, Hempstead, Hewlett, Massapequa Park, Roslyn Heights, Valley Stream and Hempstead.

In May, the Suffolk County Health Department said it had identified six positive rabies cases in raccoons and all in Amityville, but none since then.

A spokesperson for the Suffolk Health Department said the county had zero rabies cases last year, marking six total for the same period as Nassau County's 25. Suffolk plans to bait the county's four western towns starting in September in response to the positive cases this year.

Gelman said the goal of declaring the emergency is to inform the public and potentially tap into additional state resources to help mitigate the spread of rabies when the county baits in the fall.

Health officials say avoid feeding or touching wild animals or stray cats and dogs, make sure your pets are up to date on their rabies vaccinations and keep pets indoors at night. Anyone who is bitten or scratched by an animal should seek immediate medical care.

Rabies is a serious viral disease that affects the nervous system in mammals, including humans. While preventable by quickly vaccinating after an exposure, it is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.

Stony Brook Children's Hospital Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Division, Dr. Sharon Nachman, said the number of positive rabies cases is on the rise across the island and the summer is playing a role.

"It is a question of where you are and what the season is, and certainly the summertime is always associated with more bites and more worries about rabies," she said.

Last Friday, the state Health Department issued a warning and urged New Yorkers to take steps to prevent rabies infections during the summer.

Rabid animals have been found in all counties in New York, officials said. Last year, the state's Wadsworth Center Rabies Laboratory confirmed rabies in 313 wild and domestic animals. 

News 12 reached out to the New York State Department of Health for comment this afternoon but has not yet heard back.