Health officials say six rabid raccoons have been found in New York City this year, four of them in Inwood Hill Park in upper Manhattan.

The Inwood Hill animals are the first rabid raccoons found in Manhattan since 2011, when the city Health Department undertook an intensive vaccination program.

The department is urging New Yorkers to get their pets vaccinated against rabies and to stay away from raccoons and other wild animals that could carry the disease.

Rabies is a virus most often transmitted the bite of an infected animal. Exposure is almost always fatal when left untreated.

The other two rabid raccoons found in New York City this year include one raccoon in the Bronx and one on Staten Island.

(AP)