If the governing body of the county or city in which the outbreak exists does not adopt, under § 3.2-6522, subsection A of § 3.2-6525, §§ 3.2-6538, 3.2-6539, and 3.2-6546, ordinances, regulations and measures to prohibit the running at large of dogs and to prevent the spread of rabies, the State Health Commissioner is authorized to adopt regulations providing for the matters contained in such sections and to enforce the same in the same manner as if they had been specifically adopted by the governing body of the county or city involved, and the provisions of such sections shall apply mutatis mutandis to the regulations adopted by the Commissioner hereunder.
Va. Code § 32.1-48.3