Rabies is not a disease of the past—at least that’s what SLO County Animal Services Manager Dr. Eric Anderson said now that the county’s seen at least three cases this year.
“In the last year or so, we’ve seen a noticeable bump in the number of cases that are diagnosed, and so that significant increase brought to the forefront the idea that it’s probably worth making sure that the public is aware that rabies is still an ongoing issue,” Anderson said. “It’s something that still remains a concern but is entirely preventable.”
According to the California Public Health Department, while the state saw a decrease of rabies cases in animals, having 202 in 2023 then 169 in 2024, SLO County’s numbers increased from one to five.
With three reported so far this year, SLO County warned residents of the endemic of rabies on June 5 and urged them to take preventative measures for themselves and their pets.
Anderson told New Times the county’s notice was also inspired by the death of a Fresno County resident in late November 2024.
“That was an individual who did find a dead bat at their workplace, or about which they thought was dead at their workplace, and went to pick it up and throw it out of the building,” he said. “When they did so, they were bitten, and that individual didn’t wind up going to get the exposure treatment afterwards. They didn’t think too much of it and wound up having a fatal infection.”
Anderson said the primary mistake here was picking up the wild animal, even if they thought it was dead.
“Do not handle or touch the animals, even if you think that they may be deceased, in fact, those animals may still be able to bite and transmit the infection that way,” he said. “It’s best to leave them where they are. … Call us to come pick up and we can test them if necessary.”
While bats are typically the most common species to carry rabies, Anderson said other high-risk wildlife include skunks, racoons, and foxes, which pose the greatest risk to people’s pets.
But the solution is simple to prevent a rabies infection, he said, and that’s by keeping up on pet vaccinations.
“By maintaining their animals’ rabies vaccination, essentially, [they] kind of create a firewall between the endemic rabies infection and wildlife and themselves,” Anderson said.
Any pet clinic can usually provide a rabies vaccination, as well as Woods Humane Society, which offers them for $10.
If owners are worried their pets may have been exposed, Anderson said to look for behavioral changes like aggression, fatigue, tremors, or the inability to swallow.
Human treatment for rabies has changed over the years, he said, and no longer involves 30 painful injections to the stomach, but instead, a smaller series of five.
“If they may have been exposed, then they really should seek medical treatment promptly, almost as they get bit, and certainly within the first 24 to 48 hours after that exposure,” Anderson said. “And then at that point that’s usually a very, very successful course of action.” Δ
This article appears in Jun 12-22, 2025.