MONROE — A stray kitten found in the township last week tested positive for rabies.

Middlesex County Public Health Department Director David A. Papi said the kitten was found in the vicinity of Mayberry Avenue and McFadden Drive.

The animal is the eighth reported to be rabid within Middlesex County in 2009, and the fifth in Monroe.

The kitten was found on Sept. 2 when the Monroe animal control officer responded to a report that a stray kitten, appearing sick and lethargic, was found in a resident's backyard. The officer took the kitten to a veterinarian, where it was subsequently euthanized. It was then sent to the New Jersey State Department of Health Laboratory for testing, and it was reported Friday that the animal tested positive for rabies.

There were no known exposures to the stray kitten; however, the property owner was advised to consult his physician.

A raccoon that turned up on July 11 near Gravel Hill-Spotswood Road and Monroe Boulevard tested positive for rabies; on June 10 a rabid skunk was found in the vicinity of Avenue G and 13th Street; a skunk also tested positive for rabies on May 21 after being found in the vicinity of Cornell Avenue and Monmouth Road; and on May 20 a raccoon tested positive for rabies after being found in the vicinity of North Disbrow Hill Road.

Rabies is caused by a virus that can infect all warm-blooded mammals, including humans.