Health officials in several states have issued rabies warnings after infected bats, raccoons, foxes, goats and a pet dog were detected this year, raising concerns about possible exposure among people and pets. The alerts include sharp local increases in Idaho and Texas. Idaho has detected 24 rabid bats so far this year—more than in any of the previous three years—while one public health district has received more than twice as many calls about possible bat exposures as it had at the same point last year.
In San Antonio and surrounding Bexar County, officials reported 22 cases of rabies in wild animals during June and July, compared with two or three during the same months in each of the previous two years. The area also recorded its first case in a pet dog in more than a decade. Other cases have led to more targeted warnings.
North Carolina officials are tracing people who may have handled infected baby goats from a mobile petting zoo, while Florida issued a 60-day alert for part of Brevard County after a raccoon tested positive. Confirmed cases have also been reported in Alabama, California, Maryland and Michigan. Rabies can spread through the bite or scratch of an infected mammal or when its saliva enters broken skin, the eyes or the mouth.
The disease is rare in people in the United States but is fatal if it is not treated before symptoms begin. A rabid bat was confirmed on July 14 in Blaine County, south of Stanley, marking the first confirmed case in south-central Idaho this year, according to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. State officials said the reason for the rise in possible encounters is unclear.
Idaho’s growing population could be bringing more people into contact with bats, while smoke from wildfires may be changing how the animals move, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare said. Bats are the only animals in Idaho that naturally maintain the virus, although they can occasionally pass it to other mammals. About 1 in 100 bats in the wild carries rabies, and infection cannot reliably be identified from an animal’s appearance or behavior, according to the state health department.
Officials said residents should not touch bats with bare hands. People should contact their local public health district if a bat lands on them, if they have direct contact with one or if they wake to find a bat in their room. Residents who find a colony inside a building should seek help from Fish and Game rather than trying to remove or kill the bats themselves.
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