Rabies surveillance in the United States during 1994

In 1994, 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico reported 8,224 cases of rabies in nonhuman animals and 6 cases in human beings to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 93% (7,632 cases) were wild animals, whereas 7% (592 cases) were domestic species. The total number of reported cases decreased 13.4% from that of 1993 (9,498 cases), with most of the decline resulting from 19.2% fewer cases of rabies in raccoons. Two previously described epizootics of rabies involving the raccoon variant of the rabies virus have converged in North Carolina, and the resulting region is now continuous from Alabama and Florida in the South to Maine in the North. Epizootics of rabies in foxes in west central Texas and in dogs and coyotes in southern Texas continue to expand, with this state reporting 144 rabid foxes, 53 rabid dogs, and 77 of the 85 cases in coyotes during 1994. Maine and New Hampshire reported cases of rabies in foxes (6 and 9, respectively) for the first time in 10 years. Nationally, reported cases of rabies in dogs (153) increased by 17.7%, whereas cases in cattle (111) and cats (267) decreased by 14.6 and 8.3%, respectively. Cats continued to be the domestic animal most frequently reported rabid. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia reported decreases in rabies in animals in 1994, compared with 22 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in 1993. Hawaii and Nebraska were the only states that did not report cases of rabies in 1994.