ARLINGTON, Va. -- Public health officials are telling residents not to worry after two northern Virginia women were bitten by rabid foxes in the past two weeks.

Laurie Vena said she was taking out the trash in front of her Arlington townhouse on May 9 when a fox attacked her.

"She went to get into her car. You know, your feet are the last thing to get into your car, and it bit her on the ankles," said Kay Speerstra with the Arlington Animal Rescue League.

The fox was captured and killed by animal control officers.

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Two days earlier, Margaret Burhenn was mowing her lawn in Fredericksburg when she felt something bite her.

"It came at me again and again, and I put my hand down, and it grabbed my glove and bit me through my glove on my hand," Burhenn said. "It ran around the front of my mower. At some point, I don't know how I got on the ground."

She held the animal down, and a neighbor helped her kill it with a shovel.

"Better me than a kid, one of the children in the neighborhood," Burhenn said. "It would have been horrendous if it had gotten a hold of a child."

Health officials confirmed that both gray foxes had rabies. The women received rabies treatment.

Experts said such incidents are rare in this area.

"I've been doing this five years. It's the only time I've ever heard of a fox biting anyone," Speerstra said. "They don't bite people. They don't even want to be near you."

Animal control officers have been getting calls from concerned residents. Officials said residents don't need to be afraid of foxes unless it seems like the animals aren't afraid of you.

Arlington officials said people who see animals behaving strangely should call the Arlington Animal Welfare League at 703-931-9241.

People should never approach or handle wild animals, warned Richard Cole, chief of the county’s Environmental Health Bureau.

Rabies is an infectious viral disease that affects the nervous system of humans and other mammals. It is spread through saliva and can be fatal if it isn't treated quickly.

There were 90 foxes that tested positive for rabies in 2007. In Maryland, there were 49 cases, and there was one case in D.C. last year.

People who are bitten should seek medical care immediately and contact the welfare league, Arlington officials said.

Click here for more information on rabies from the Virginia Department of Public Health.