HEALTH
RABIES DEATHS IN THE US SPARK WARNING
WORDS YASEMIN SAPLAKOGLU
One of the cases involved exposure to a big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus)
© Alamy / Getty
Five people died of rabies in the US in 2021, three of them within a five-week period. This follows two years of zero cases and is the highest number reported per year in over a decade. The cases were all exposed to bats between 28 September and 3 November 2021, and none of them sought out post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), a series of vaccines vital for preventing rabies after exposure.