Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a nationwide health advisory warning of an increase in reported rabies exposures and a rise in the use of post-exposure treatment, after several high-profile incidents involving potentially rabid animals exposed hundreds of people across multiple states. In its September 10 Health Alert Network advisory, the CDC said it had received 17 percent more rabies-related inquiries during July and August 2026 than during the same period last year. The agency also reported that at least eight state health departments had flagged increased use of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), administration errors or both.
"Although there is currently no shortage of human rabies vaccine or human rabies immunoglobulin in the United States, it is important for clinicians to administer PEP appropriately because errors in rabies risk assessment and PEP administration could result in unnecessary treatment, potential adverse effects, and avoidable costs," the CDC said in its update. The warning comes as local health departments continue responding to a series of unusually large exposure events, including a North Carolina outbreak linked to rabid baby goats that traveled with a mobile petting zoo and may have exposed hundreds of people. Newsweek reached out to the CDC by email for comment on Friday.
The CDC said recent reports from around the country point to an increase in human exposures to rabid or potentially rabid animals. Public health officials noted that traditional rabies carriers, such as bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes, and animals less commonly associated with rabies have been involved in recent incidents. One of the largest exposure events occurred in North Carolina, where several baby goats from a mobile petting zoo tested positive for rabies.
State health officials evaluated nearly 300 people who may have interacted with the animals at community events, assisted-living facilities and private gatherings. More than 200 people were advised to undergo post-exposure treatment. The goats were reportedly too young to have received rabies vaccinations and were believed to have been infected after being bitten by a rabid skunk.
The event attracted national attention because of the unusually large number of people who potentially came into contact with the animals. While the CDC confirmed an increase in exposures and treatment demand, health officials have not identified a single cause behind the national uptick. The agency's advisory points instead to multiple local outbreaks and mass-exposure incidents involving infected animals.
Experts say heightened public awareness, increased testing and reporting, and localized spikes in infected wildlife may also be contributing factors. Rabies is a viral disease that attacks the central nervous system and is almost always fatal once symptoms begin. However, it is preventable if treatment is started before symptoms develop.
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