Human Rabies | Rabies in U.S.

Cases of human rabies cases in the United States are rare, with only 1 to 3 cases reported annually. Twenty-five cases of human rabies have been reported in the United States in the past decade (2009-2018). Seven of these infections were acquired outside of the U.S. and its territories.

The number of human rabies deaths in the United States has been steadily declining since the 1970’s thanks to animal control and vaccination programs, successful outreach programs, public health capacity and laboratory diagnostics, and the availability of modern rabies biologics. Yet each year, hundreds of thousands of animals need to be placed under observation or be tested for rabies, and between 30,000 to 60,000 people need to receive rabies postexposure prophylaxis.

Cases of Rabies in Humans in the United States and Puerto Rico from January 2009 Through December 2019 by Circ*mstances of Exposure and Rabies Virus Variant
Date of onset	Date of death	Reporting state	Age (y)	Sex	Exposure*	Rabies virus variant†
16-Oct-18	4-Nov-18	UT	55	M	Contact	Bat, Tb
15-Jul-18	23-Aug-18	DE	69	F	Unknown	Raccoon, eastern United States
28-Dec-17	14-Jan-18	FL	6	M	Bite	Bat, Tb
6-Oct-17	21-Oct-17	FL	56	F	Bite	Bat, Tb
5-May-17	21-May-17	VA	65	F	Bite	Dog, India
25-Nov-15	1-Dec-15	PR	54	M	Bite	Dog-mongoose, Caribbean
17-Sep-15	3-Oct-15	WY	77	F	Contact	Bat, Ln
30-Jul-15	24-Aug-15	MA	65	M	Bite, Philippines	Dog, Philippines
12-Sep-14	26-Sep-14	MO	52	M	Unknown	Bat, Ps
16-May-13	11-Jun-13	TX	28	M	Unknown, Guatemala	Dog, Guatemala
31-Jan-13	27-Feb-13	MD	49	M	Kidney transplant	Raccoon, eastern United States
6-Jul-12	31-Jul-12	CA	34	M	Bite	Bat,Tb
22-Dec-11	23-Jan-12	MA	63	M	Contact	Bat, My sp
3-Dec-11	19-Dec-11	SC	46	F	Unknown	Bat,Tb
1-Sep-11	14-Oct-11	MA	40	M	Contact, Brazil	Dog, Brazil
21-Aug-11	1-Sep-11	NC	20	M	Unknown (organ donor)§	Raccoon, eastern United States
14-Aug-11	31-Aug-11	NY	25	M	Contact, Afghanistan	Dog, Afghanistan
30-Jun-11	20-Jul-11	NJ	73	F	Bite, Haiti	Dog, Haiti
30-Apr-11	Survived	CA	8	F	Unknown	Unknown
24-Dec-10	10-Jan-11	WI	70	M	Unknown	Bat, Ps
2-Aug-10	21-Aug-10	LA	19	M	Bite, Mexico	Bat, Dr
23-Oct-09	20-Nov-09	VA	42	M	Contact, India	Dog, India
20-Oct-09	11-Nov-09	MI	55	M	Contact	Bat, Ln
5-Oct-09	20-Oct-09	IN	43	M	Unknown	Bat, Ps
25-Feb-09	Survived	TX	17	F	Contact	Bat, unknown

*Data for exposure history including exposure type and country if outside of the United States are reported when plausible information was reported directly by the patient (if lucid or credible) or when a reliable account of an incident consistent with rabies virus exposure (e.g., dog bite) was reported by an independent witness (usually a family member). Exposure histories are categorized as bite, contact without a known bite (e.g., waking up to find a bat on exposed skin), or unknown (i.e., no information about a bite or contact with an animal was elicited during case investigation).

†Rabies virus variants associated with terrestrial animals in the United States and Puerto Rico are identified with the names of the reservoir animal (raccoon, skunk, fox, bat, mongoose), followed by the name of the most definitive geographic entity (usually the country) from which the variant has been identified. Rabies virus variants associated with bats are identified with a notation for the names of the species of bats in which they have been found to be circulating.

Dr = Desmodus rotundus. Ln = Lasionycteris noctivagans. My sp = Myotis species. Ps = Perimyotis subflavus.Tb = Tadarida brasiliensis

†Infection was not identified until 2013, when an organ recipient developed rabies.

Information regarding the location of the exposure and the identity of the exposing animal is 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 deduced using the best available evidence.

Human Rabies | Rabies in U.S. | Rabies (2024)

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports: Case Histories of Most Recent Cases

Annual Surveillance Reports in the United States