By admin 
A “nearly 100% fatal” viral disease is prompting federal health warnings as rabies exposures rise across the country. California counties are reporting more rabid bats in 2026, including cases in the Bay Area, Sutter County and Yosemite National Park.
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Here are key takeaways:
- Federal officials issued a nationwide health alert Sept. 10 after the CDC recorded a 17% jump in rabies-related inquiries from July through August compared with 2025, with demand for rabies vaccines up roughly 33% year-over-year.
- Rabies is spread through bites and scratches from infected animals — most often bats, foxes, raccoons and skunks — and is almost always fatal once symptoms begin, though a four-to-five-shot vaccine given after exposure is nearly 100% effective.
- A dead bat pulled from a swimming pool on California Street in Sutter on July 26 tested positive for rabies, and one adolescent may have had contact with the animal, Sutter County officials said.
- A bat captured Aug. 20 inside a Yuba City home on the 700 block of Andrew Drive was confirmed rabid by the Sacramento County Health Lab, prompting Sutter County health officials to warn residents.
- A third rabid bat turned up outside a Sutter home Sept. 8, where a child may have come into contact with it, and California had recorded 252 animal rabies cases as of Aug. 31 — 232 of them bats, according to state public health data.
- A big brown bat found dead outside the Curry Village Showerhouse in May tested positive for rabies, Yosemite National Park confirmed, with no known human contact reported.
- Los Angeles County had logged 61 rabid bats as of Sept. 11, and Berkeley found five rabies-positive bats in residential and commercial neighborhoods — well above the city’s typical zero to two per year, public health officials reported.
- Since 1980, 17 people in California have been infected with rabies, most recently in 2024, state health data shows.
- To reduce risk, residents should avoid wild animals, seal gaps where bats could enter homes, keep pets’ rabies vaccinations current and contact a healthcare provider immediately after any potential exposure, Sutter County health officials advised.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.
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