US Seeing Uptick In Human Rabies Cases Linked To Bats: CDC

The U.S. is seeing a high number of human rabies cases linked to bats, with three deaths reported in just a span of six weeks in fall 2021, authorities said.

The three human rabies deaths were confirmed between Sept. 28 and Nov. 10, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The cases occurred in one child and two adults from the states of Idaho, Illinois and Texas, all of whom were male.

All of the patients had direct contact with a bat in August 2021, some three to seven weeks prior to the onset of symptoms, and all of them died within two to three weeks of symptoms onset. Two of the cases were considered "avoidable exposures," the CDC noted in a statement, with one of the patients having picked up the bat with bare hands.

None of the patients received the post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) shot, which can protect people from developing rabies. According to the agency, two of the patients weren't really aware of the rabies risk posed by the exposures while one refused the PEP even after the bat tested positive for rabies because of a "long-standing fear of vaccines."

The cases bring the number of rabies cases in 2021 to five, the CDC noted. Two of the deaths occurred earlier in 2021. By comparison, there were "no reported rabies cases in people during 2019 and 2020." This is said to be the "largest number in a decade," according to AP News.

"We have come a long way in the United States towards reducing the number of people who become infected each year with rabies, but this recent spate of cases is a sobering reminder that contact with bats poses a real health risk," Ryan Wallace, DVM, MPH, veterinarian and rabies expert from the CDC's Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, said in the statement.

Human rabies cases in the U.S. are typically considered to be "rare." There are usually just one to three cases each year, with 25 cases reported from 2009 to 2018. Among these cases, seven were acquired outside the U.S. and its territories, the CDC noted.

"The number of rabid bats reported to the National Rabies Surveillance System has been stable since 2007, which suggests that this uptick in cases of rabies in people may be due to a lack of awareness about of the risks of rabies – and that getting PEP is a life-or-death matter," the CDC noted.

The agency said that bats are an "ecologically critical species," but exposure to rabid bats is the leading cause of rabies in humans in the U.S., accounting for 70% of people who get infected.

Avoiding contact with bats is said to be the best way to protect both bats and human health, the agency noted.

The bites and scratches from a bat exposure can be so small that someone might not notice them. As such, it is critical to get a PEP even if there was only a chance of contact, for instance, if someone wakes up with a bat in the room, especially since rabies is "almost always fatal" once the symptoms develop.

If received before the symptoms begin to show, the PEP is "nearly 100% effective" at preventing rabies.

"While it is tragic that five people unnecessarily lost their lives to rabies in 2021, they represent only a small fraction of Americans that are exposed to the disease every year," Wallace and another rabies expert, Amber Kunkel, told USA TODAY. "This report is a sad and important reminder that direct contact with bats is a leading cause of rabies deaths in the U.S."

In case of contact or possible contact with a bat, it's best to call the local health department or animal control to help get the bat tested, and to contact your doctor to determine if you need a PEP.