Several people in Bennington say they've been attacked by a squirrel over the last few weeks. 
 
 Kevin McDonald tells the Bennington Banner he was shoveling snow when the squirrel jumped onto him. He says he threw the animal off, but it twice jumped back onto him. A game warden says there have been other reports, too. 
 
 One woman is being treated for exposure to rabies, but Vermont Public Health Veterinarian Robert Johnson says there's never been a case of a squirrel passing rabies to a human. 
 
 Johnson says it's possible the squirrel was raised as a pet and lost its fear of humans. He says the squirrel might "go ballistic" when it encounters people it doesn't recognize. ||||| Tuesday March 15, 2011 
 
 BENNINGTON -- An East Street man said he was minding his own business and shoveling snow away from the side of his house when he was attacked. 
 
 "All of a sudden I felt something on my back and shoulders, scratching," said Kevin McDonald, of 15 East St. 
 
 It was a gray squirrel, said McDonald. He threw the animal off, but twice it jumped back onto his arms, delivering more scratches. Finally, it ran up a tree and McDonald retreated to his house. 
 
 "The first thing that goes through your mind is ‘is it rabid?’" he said. After doing some research into the matter on the Internet, McDonald said he learned bites are the real concern with rabies infection, and squirrel attacks are quite rare. 
 
 Which is why he was surprised the next day, when his wife reported hearing yelling from across the street. He said he looked to see his neighbor with a blanket and a metal pole battling a gray squirrel not unlike the one that attacked him the day before. Later, he would learn that a woman on the same street had also been attacked. 
 
 While the incident is on the amusing side of the spectrum for him, McDonald said it was a bit eerie to have the squirrel not only jump him, but jump back onto him after being thrown off. 
 
 "I thought it was funny until I learned of two other people being attacked; then I thought it should be taken a little more seriously," he said. 
 
 Local Game Warden Travis Buttle said he’s spoken to two 
 
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 people on East Street, but not McDonald, about the attacking squirrel. He said one woman was bitten on the back of the neck, and under advice of her doctor is undergoing a rabies vaccination series. 
 
 He said there isn’t much he can do unless someone manages to contain the squirrel, say in a garage or a shed. To test for rabies the animal has to be captured and destroyed. Buttle advised anyone attacked by a squirrel, or any animal, to talk to their doctor and follow the advice given. 
 
 If the squirrel was rabid, Buttle said, it would likely have died of the disease by now. The disease, which affects the brains of mammals, causes them to behave oddly and in some cases aggressively. Buttle said that normally he would try to track an animal suspected of rabies, but when he got the calls on the squirrel he was two hours away and the victims reported the animal had disappeared almost immediately. 
 
 Buttle said these cases are unusual because the attacks appear to be unprovoked. ||||| By Steven Reinberg 
 
 HealthDay Reporter 
 
 WEDNESDAY, July 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- After the mysterious deaths of three German variegated squirrel breeders, researchers have identified a deadly new virus that can be transmitted from variegated squirrels to humans. 
 
 But you don't need to be concerned about the squirrels scurrying across your path every day. Variegated squirrels are an exotic breed native to southern Mexico and Central America. 
 
 "A new bornavirus that can be transmitted to humans and cause severe disease has been detected in variegated squirrels. The study shows that exotic animal species can have the risk of transmitting novel zoonotic viruses to humans from close contact," said the study's senior author, Dr. Martin Beer, head of virus diagnostics at the Friedrich-Loeffler Institute in Insel Riems, Germany. 
 
 Dr. Marc Siegel, a professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said that based on these few cases, the general public should not be concerned about this new virus. 
 
 "It's likely that bornavirus, commonly found in horses and sheep and capable of causing neurological symptoms, was present in the squirrels that scratched these men, causing the neurological and behavioral symptoms," he said. 
 
 "It is possible that this virus could spread to squirrels here in the U.S. and occasionally to humans, but we wouldn't see sustained spread, as there is no evidence of spread from human to human," Siegel said. 
 
 Details of the findings were published in the July 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. 
 
 The three squirrel breeders were diagnosed with encephalitis -- inflammation of the brain -- and died within two to four months of developing symptoms, the study reported. 
 
 The three deaths occurred between 2011 and 2013. Analysis of the squirrels and the victims' brains found that this previously undetected virus was present in both the animals and the humans. 
 
 Beer said that the three men were in their 60s or older and had other medical conditions that possibly could have contributed to their reaction to the virus. 
 
 The three men were friends, and all were members of the same squirrel-breeding association, the researchers said. And, at least two of them were known to have been scratched by their squirrels, and one had been bitten, according to the study. 
 
 Symptoms of the virus can include fever, shivers, and low energy, according to the study. Symptoms of encephalitis include clumsiness, an unsteady walk, confusion, disorientation, drowsiness, irritability, sensitivity to light, stiff neck and vomiting, according to the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. 
 
 "These findings indicated that the virus most likely caused the lethal human infections and should be considered as a novel zoonotic virus that was transmitted from infected squirrels," Beer said. "Zoonoses are infectious diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans," he said. 
 
 The infected squirrels showed no signs of the infection and the cause of infection is still unknown, he said. Whether the animals contracted the virus in the breeding facility or brought it with them from Latin America isn't known. "Bites or scratches are a likely route of transmission," Beer said. 
 
 Analyses showed that this virus, named variegated squirrel 1 bornavirus (VSBV-1), is separate from the other known bornavirus species, he said. 
 
 "However, there is, up to now, no indication that other squirrel species can also be infected, and there are no further human cases reported," Beer said. 
 
 More information 
 
 For more on encephalitis, visit the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
– A rogue gray squirrel has been terrorizing a neighborhood in Vermont. One resident says he was shoveling snow when the squirrel jumped onto his back three separate times, scratching and clawing him before he finally managed to chase it away. At least two other people on the street have been attacked as well, reports the Bennington Banner. One victim is being treated for exposure to rabies, although Vermont's chief veterinarian says there's never been a case of a squirrel passing rabies to a human. He says that it's likely that the squirrel isn't rabid, but may have been kept as a pet and lost its fear of humans. The squirrel might "go ballistic" when it meets people it doesn't recognize, the vet tells the AP.