Editing Rabies (section)

===United States===
[[File:Mm6823e1-F1.gif|thumb|upright=1.5|Rabies cases in humans and domestic animals — United States, 1938–2018]]

Canine-specific rabies has been eradicated in the United States. But rabies is common among wild animals in the United States, and an average of 100 dogs become infected from other wildlife each year.<ref>{{cite web|title=CDC – Rabies Surveillance in the U.S.: Human Rabies – Rabies |url=https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/usa/surveillance/human_rabies.html |website=www.cdc.gov |access-date=10 April 2017 |language=en-us |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118072742/https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/usa/surveillance/human_rabies.html |archive-date=18 January 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rabies-usa-idUSN0741162020070907 |title=U.S. free of canine rabies virus |last=Fox |first=Maggie | name-list-style = vanc |date=7 September 2007 |newspaper=[[Reuters]] |access-date=11 April 2017 |quote="We don't want to misconstrue that rabies has been eliminated – dog rabies virus has been," CDC rabies expert Dr. Charles Rupprecht told Reuters in a telephone interview. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517072630/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rabies-usa-idUSN0741162020070907 |archive-date=17 May 2017 }}</ref> [[Bat]]s, [[raccoon]]s, [[skunk]]s and [[fox]]es account for almost all reported cases (98% in 2009). Rabid bats are found in all 48 contiguous states. Other reservoirs are more limited geographically; for example, the raccoon rabies virus variant is only found in a relatively narrow band along the East Coast.{{cn|date=May 2021}}

Due to a high public awareness of the virus, efforts at vaccination of domestic animals and curtailment of feral populations, and availability of [[postexposure prophylaxis]], incidence of rabies in humans is very rare in the United States. From 1960 to 2018, a total of 125 human rabies cases were reported in the United States; 36 (28%) were attributed to dog bites during international travel.<ref name=MMWR2019/> Among the 89 infections acquired in the United States, 62 (70%) were attributed to bats.<ref name=MMWR2019>{{cite journal | vauthors = Pieracci EG, Pearson CM, Wallace RM, Blanton JD, Whitehouse ER, Ma X, Stauffer K, Chipman RB, Olson V | display-authors = 6 | title = Vital Signs: Trends in Human Rabies Deaths and Exposures - United States, 1938-2018 | journal = MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report | volume = 68 | issue = 23 | pages = 524–528 | date = June 2019 | pmid = 31194721 | pmc = 6613553 | doi = 10.15585/mmwr.mm6823e1 }}</ref> No Americans have died from rabies since 2018, when a 55-year-old Utah man who had "extensive contact with bats" died from the disease.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lorenz |first1=Jonna |title=Human Rabies Case in Utah Underscores Importance of Public Health Efforts |url=https://www.contagionlive.com/news/human-rabies-case-in-utah-underscores-importance-of-public-health-efforts |website=ContagionLive |access-date=11 August 2020}}</ref>