AUGUSTA – State health officials say a cat that bit two people in Norridgewock and exposed a third person to its saliva has tested positive for rabies. It’s the second rabid cat to be identified in the central Maine town this year.

Those bitten by the cat will receive a series of rabies shots. Several pets that recently had close contact with the cat were being placed in quarantine to make sure they are not infected by the virus.

The rabid cat was killed Monday by Norridgewock Animal Control and tested the following day. Maine has confirmed three cases of rabies in cats this year, one of them in Greene.

Director Dora Mills of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reminds pet owners that Maine law requires that all dogs and cats be vaccinated.