Expert Say Risk of Rabies Could Be Rising

Rabies might sound like a bygone threat in the US, but recent outbreaks are forcing officials to look twice. Rabid beavers in Maryland and New Jersey, infected goats at a North Carolina petting zoo, and record bat cases in California helped prompt a recent CDC advisory warning of more people needing rabies shots after risky animal encounters. But no human cases have been confirmed in 2026, and experts aren't sure whether the apparent rise is real or partly a product of heightened awareness and testing, the New York Times reports.

• Dr. Sara Margrey, Ohio's public health veterinarian, says more bats with rabies have been detected this year, but more bats have been sent in for testing and the percentage that test positive has not increased. "It's kind of a positive feedback loop sometimes," she says.

What is clear, they say, is that rabies remains a shape-shifting danger in wildlife, from raccoons on the East Coast to skunks in the central states and foxes in Texas, where a skunk-associated variant is causing what officials call an "evolving outbreak." Unlike in many countries, where domestic dogs cause most rabies deaths in humans, bats cause the most human rabies deaths in the US, CNN reports. Officials say only a handful of Americans die from rabies every year, though some scientists say dozens more deaths might go undetected.

Experts say other factors causing a possible rise in rabies risk include increased skepticism about pet vaccines, the effects of climate change on animal populations, and encroachment on animal habitats. "We're building subdivisions into former wildlife areas," Dr. Jonathan Sleeman, a wildlife veterinarian at the University of Minnesota, tells the Times. "Wildlife are increasingly adapting to human habitation, and we're encountering the wildlife more frequently."

• Sources tell the Times that staff cuts at the CDC have hit the agency's rabies team, which no longer advises state officials after hours. The CDC suspended rabies testing in early April due to staff shortages. Officials say the pause ended in August.