Rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. The rabies virus attacks the central nervous system, causing encephalitis, and is always fatal once symptoms appear.  Rabies can be prevented in persons who have come into contact or been bitten by wild animals through prompt administration of anti-rabies vaccine and rabies immune globulin. Hundreds of rabies post exposure prophylactic treatments are initiated annually in Arizona to prevent rabies from developing after confirmed or suspect exposures.  All bite or contact exposures to bats or other wild animals should be reported immediately to local animal control or health officials. Bites from domestic mammals except for rodents, should also be reported to local animal control.  Reports of rabies or suspect rabies infection in livestock, and the quarantine of livestock that bite humans, are handled by the Arizona State Veterinarian's office in Phoenix: (602) 542-4293. 

The vast majority of rabies cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each year occur in wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes.  Domestic animals account for less than 10% of the reported rabies cases, with cats, cattle, and dogs most often reported rabid. 

The last documented human case of rabies in Arizona was in 1981. Over 90% of the animal rabies cases in Arizona are in wildlife.  In Arizona, the principal rabies hosts are the bat, skunk, and fox.  Bats are the most important source of rabies infection for both humans and animals in Arizona. Recent epidemiologic data suggest that transmission of rabies virus can occur from minor, seemingly unimportant, or unrecognized bites from bats. 

In the United States, human fatalities associated with rabies occur in people who fail to seek medical assistance, usually because they were unaware of their exposure. This is especially true with exposures to bats, as bat bites can be difficult to detect.  Since 1980 more than half of the human cases of rabies in the U.S. have been associated with bat-associated rabies virus.
                                                
In 2002, the Arizona State Health Laboratory confirmed the highest number of rabies cases in animals on record for any year in Arizona. Of the more than 2,700 animals tested, 143 (5.2%) tested positive for rabies including 56 bats, 44 skunks, 33 foxes, 3 bobcats, 2 coyotes, one javelina, and one dog.

For further information about animal rabies cases in Arizona, click here.  For frequently asked questions about rabies, click here.