CDC warns of 100% fatal rabies threat with multiple Calif. hot spots reported

Officials in multiple California counties are warning residents of an increase in rabid animals being found amid a nationwide report of increased exposure to the deadly disease. 

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Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning to healthcare providers after seeing an increase in the number of people being exposed to rabies. The CDC reported a 76% rise in the number of people receiving rabies immunoglobulin shots, which are given after exposure to prevent infection, compared with the same time period last year.

The CDC also reported a 33% increase in people being given rabies vaccines, which are usually given over multiple days after exposure to prevent future infection.

“Anyone who has been bitten, scratched, or otherwise potentially exposed to a rabid animal should promptly contact a health care provider or public health department for guidance,” the CDC said in a statement.

The CDC sent the advisory on Sept. 10 to advise clinicians on how to avoid errors when giving needed rabies vaccines and immunoglobulin shots, including advising on placement and criteria for getting the different shots.

The warning came as multiple jurisdictions in California have reported an increase in animals testing positive for rabies this year.

In the Bay Area, Berkeley officials issued a late last month after five rabid bats were detected since the start of the year. That is a significant increase from the normal one to two detections annually. In June, Pleasanton officials also detected a rabid domestic cat, which was later euthanized. 

In Los Angeles, the number of rabid bats has increased in recent years, with 15% to 20% of the tested animals found to be positive for the disease. In total, 62 rabid bats have been found in Los Angeles County since the start of the year, while 69 were found for all of 2025. In San Diego County, officials reported 43 bats have tested positive for rabies in 2026, more than double the number from 2025. 

The CDC listed no reason for the rise in rabies exposures, and LA officials say they don’t know why rabid bats are increasingly being found in the county. 

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Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at UC San Francisco, said while rabies used to be associated with dogs, veterinary vaccination requirements mean that today people are usually exposed to the disease via wild animals such as bats and raccoons.

“There are bats out there, and they fly around,” she said. “They come into windows, for example.”

Gandhi said a person exposed to rabies will generally get both immunoglobulin and a rabies vaccine. The immunoglobulin works to “prevent the rabies from actually taking hold, essentially, from actually infecting you,” she explained, saying the treatment keeps the disease from entering key cells. 

To protect against infection, immunoglobulin should be given within 72 hours of exposure, and Gandhi said people can seek treatment at any emergency room.

If exposed, a person will also be advised to get a rabies vaccine, given as a series over multiple days, to prevent them from getting sick in the future if they are exposed again. Gandhi said anyone who thinks they may have had exposure to a rabid animal or a wild bat should seek help immediately. If untreated, the disease is extremely dangerous and considered nearly 100% fatal, as the virus enters the brain, causing severe neurological injury and eventually paralysis and death.

Gandhi said few very people are able to survive the disease once the infection takes hold. 

“Rabies is a very, very fatal disease,” she said, explaining if a bat just “flew by a person,” she’d still recommend getting the shots. “We’re going to give you rabies post-exposure prophylaxis because the consequences are so dire.”