Rabid Animals In Los Angeles County. Currently bats are the main reservoir  in Los Angeles County.  In 2008, nine rabid bats were discovered in Los Angeles County. Rabies is endemic in skunks further north in California, from Santa Barbara County and further north.  Although rabies in other wildlife and domestic species has not been diagnosed locally in recent years, other species may become infected with rabies after exposure to a rabid bat or skunk.  Rabies was detected in skunks in LA County regularly until 1978 when a wildfire killed the last rabid colony.   The last rabid cat detected in LA County was in 1987, when a cat incubating rabies was adopted in Acapulco, Mexico and brought to the San Fernando Valley.  The last rabid dog diagnosed in LA County was in 1979.

Rabies in California. To see the 2007 rabies map for California click here.  Although the primary reservoirs for rabies in California are bats and skunks, rabid foxes are found in significant numbers every year.  A few other animals such as raccoons and domestic animals also are diagnosed with rabies in our state on an annual basis, with most cases being in northern California.

Risk of Rabies Importation.  Animals incubating rabies may be brought to LA County from other parts of the U.S. or from other countries that have more rabies. For example,  In 2004 an ill puppy adopted in Thailand was brought into the U.S. through the LAX airport.  The puppy was seen by two veterinarians in LA County. The puppy was eventually diagnosed with rabies by a veterinarian in Santa Barbara County, where the case was officially counted.  In recent years, an increasing number of illegally-imported puppies have been arriving in Los Angeles County, many from
countries that still have rabies endemic in their dog populations. 
To read more about illegal dog imports, click here .

Rabies may be introduced into new wild animal populations and spread before being detected. This happened on the East Coast when humans transported rabid raccoons from Florida to West Virginia in the 1970s, triggering an outbreak of raccoon rabies that has since spread hundreds of miles, an outbreak that persists today. To read more about this outbreak, click here.

Rabies Clinical Signs.  Rabies causes encephalitis, so all signs are technically neurological in origin.  However, since the nervous system influences all parts of the body, the first clinical signs may not be obviously neurological.  For example, the first signs reported in the rabid puppy from Thailand where respiratory problems and regurgitation/vomiting, followed later by aggression.  Most likely the regurgitation/vomiting was due to changes in esophageal muscle tone and neurological ileus. 

Early symptoms of rabies in humans include headache, muscle and body aches, and numbness and tingling of the body part associated with the original infecting bite wound.  Animals most likely feel these early symptoms as well, but they are not easily detected since they cannot talk.  Clinical signs may also include some combination of ascending weakness, disorientation, aggression, acting withdrawn, and fear of wind and water.  Difficulty swallowing is very common in advanced rabies, therefore the ability to eat and drink normally is suggestive that clinical rabies is not likely present.  Eventually cases advance to generalized weakness and coma, and may or may not include seizures.  Fever is sometimes present. Wild animals with rabies generally lose their fear of people and other animals, and may be passive or aggressive or both.  Once signs of rabies appear, the clinical course is a steadily worsening one. Therefore, an animal with neurological disease that is improving, or that has a waxing and waning course, is generally not rabid. To read more about clinical signs of rabies refer to our Rabies Manual or to this Rabies Bulletin from the World Health Organization.