Epidemiology

United States Rabies Surveillance Data, 2008

Each year, scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collect information about cases of animal and human rabies from the state health departments and publish the information in a summary report. The most recent report, entitled "Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2008," contains the epidemiologic information on rabies during 2008. Below is a brief summary of the surveillance information for 2008, including maps showing the distribution of rabies in the United States.

In 2008, 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico tested over 121,000 animals and reported 6,841 cases of rabies in animals and 2 human cases to CDC (Hawaii is the only state that is rabies free). The total number of reported cases decreased by approximately 3.1% from those reported in 2007 (7,060 cases).

Wild Animals

Wild animals accounted for 93% of reported cases of rabies in 2008. Raccoons continued to be the most frequently reported rabid wildlife species (34.9% of all animal cases during 2008), followed by bats (26.4%), skunks (23.2%), foxes (6.6%), and other wild animals, including rodents and lagomorphs (1.9%). Reported cases decreased among all wild animals during 2008 with the exception of an increase among skunks.

Outbreaks of rabies infections in terrestrial mammals like raccoons, skunks, foxes, and coyotes are found in broad geographic regions across the United States. Geographic boundaries of currently recognized reservoirs for rabies in terrestrial mammals are shown on the map below:

Map of terrestrial rabies reservoirs in the United States during 2008. Raccoon rabies virus variant is present in the eastern United States, Skunk rabies in the Central United States and California, Fox rabies in Texas, Arizona, and Alaska, and Mongoose rabies in Puerto Rico. Click on map for larger view.

Domestic Animals

Domestic species accounted for 7% of all rabid animals reported in the United States in 2008. The number of reported rabid domestic animals increased among cats and cattle and decreased among dogs, horses, and sheep and goats during 2008.

In 2008, cases of rabies in cats increased 12.2% compared with the number reported in 2007. The number of rabies cases reported in cats is routinely 3-4 times that of rabies reported in cattle or dogs. Pennsylvania reported the largest number of rabid domestic animals (60) for any state, followed by Virginia (48). In 2008 approximately 1% of cats and 0.3% of dogs tested for rabies were found positive.

Human Rabies

In this century, the number of human deaths in the United States attributed to rabies has declined from 100 or more each year to an average of 2 or 3 each year. Two programs have been responsible for this decline. First, animal control and vaccination programs begun in the 1940's and oral rabies vaccination programs in the 2000’s have eliminated domestic dogs as reservoirs of rabies in the United States. Second, effective human rabies vaccines and immunolglobins have been developed . All human cases in the United States since 1990 are summarized in the Table of Human Rabies Cases from 1995- 2008 (see table below). The case histories (if published) of the ten most recent deaths can be found using the links below.

• Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas (Transplant Associated Rabies) – 2004
• Wisconsin (survivor) – 2004
• California – 2004
• Mississippi – 2005
• Texas – 2006
• Indiana – 2006
• California – 2006
• Minnesota - 2007
• California - 2008
• Missouri - 2008

* All laboratory-confirmed cases of rabies in human beings who developed the disease in the United States, 1990-2008.

** Data for exposure history are reported only when the biting animal was available and tested positive for rabies; or when plausible information was reported directly by the patient (if lucid or credible); or when a reliable account of an incident consistent with rabies exposure (e.g., dog bite) was reported by an independent witness (usually a family member). #In some instances where the exposure history is unknown, there may have been known or inferred interaction which, especially for bats, could have involved an unrecognized bite.

+ Variants of the rabies virus associated with terrestrial animals in the United States are identified with the name of the reservoir animal (dog or dog/coyote in all cases shown) followed by the name of the most definitive geographic entity (usually the country) from which the variant has been identified. Variants of the rabies virus associated with bats are identified with the name(s) of the species of bat(s) in which they have been found to be circulating. Because information regarding the location of the exposure and the identity of the exposing animal are almost always retrospective, and much information is frequently unavailable, the location of the exposure and the identity of the animal responsible for the infection are often limited to deduction.

Ln/Ps=Lasionycteris noctivagans or Pipistrellus subflavus, the silver-haired bat or the eastern pipistrelle; Msp=Myotis, species unknown; Tb=Tadarida brasiliensis, the Brazilian (Mexican) free-tailed bat; Ef=Eptesicus fuscus, the big brown bat.

Please note: Some of these publications are available for download only as *.pdf files. These files require Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to be viewed. Please review the information on downloading and using Acrobat Reader software.

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