Bat in your house? Rabid goat at the petting zoo? If exposed to rabies, what do you do?

In August, rabid beavers attacked park-goers in Maryland. Not long after that, more than 200 people in North Carolina were told to get rabies shots because baby goats at a mobile petting zoo exposed them to the deadly virus.

Frightening videos depicting violent animal attacks and news of rabies exposures seem to be all over social media lately. It’s not always clear if the animals involved have rabies, but in most cases the recommendation was the same: The victims needed rabies shots.

Rabies is a serious viral disease that attacks the central nervous system and is almost always fatal in people after symptoms begin.

Human cases are rare, but there are around 4,000 animal rabies cases each year, reported the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most recent CDC data showed that from 2022 to 2023, there was a 5.1% increase in animal rabies cases.

Although recent animal attacks and rabid animal anecdotes and warnings do not necessarily reflect quantitative trends, some public health officials say they have observed increases in animal attack reports this year.

Idaho public health officials said the state found 24 rabid bats this year — more than in the past three years. In California’s San Diego County, public health authorities also documented an uptick in rabies-positive bats. The health director in Jones County, North Carolina, said the county has seen an abnormally high animal rabies case rate so far in 2026. None of the officials cited a potential cause.

Here’s what doctors and wildlife experts want you to know about the threat.

What animals carry rabies? 

All mammals can be infected with and transmit rabies, said Tanya LeRoith, the director of Virginia Tech’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Some animals, however, are more likely to carry rabies than others in the U.S., including bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes and mongooses.

Symptoms of rabies in animals can include aggression, unsteady walking, weaving, spasms, rear-limb paralysis and difficulty swallowing.

But any strange behavior or signs of illness can be a symptom of rabies in animals, LeRoith said.

“Unfortunately it can be difficult to tell, especially if they seem friendly,” she said.

When do I need a rabies vaccine?  

If an animal wounded you, clean the wound thoroughly with hot, soapy running water. Then, go to the nearest emergency department, Dr. Sean Grogan, an emergency medicine physician, told Yale Medicine News.

Emergency room doctors will help assess your rabies risk and decide if you need rabies post-exposure prophylaxis, the scientific term for medical interventions that help prevent disease after someone is exposed to a virus like the one that causes rabies.

If you’ve encountered a wild animal that was behaving strangely but it didn’t bite or scratch you and you are unsure if it’s a rabies risk, seek guidance from your state or local health department.

Am I only at risk of rabies if an animal bites me? 

No. Rabies spreads through saliva, so bites are the biggest concern. But animals clean themselves often, meaning saliva can be all over their bodies. As a result, they can transmit the rabies virus even with a scratch.

There’s also a risk of exposure through an open wound or any mucous membrane such as the mouth or eyes.

“Consider a child feeds a baby goat, gets goat slobber on their hand, then puts their fingers in their mouth or their eyes,” said Dr. Meagan Deming, an infectious disease specialist and an expert with the University of Maryland’s Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health. “That’s an exposure.”

Finding a bat in your house is also considered an exposure unless you are certain you were never in contact with it, she said.

Bat teeth are so tiny that they can bite without you feeling it and without leaving a mark.

“If you wake up to find a bat in your room? Exposure,” Deming said. “Child sleeping in a room and a bat was in there? Exposure.”

That’s also true if someone is unable to say if they had contact with a bat either because of a disability or intoxication, she said.

What should I do if I think I have been exposed to rabies? 

Seek treatment as soon as possible. Medical personnel will clean and bandage any wounds and then you’ll likely get two injections: One that provides immediate antibodies and the first dose of what is typically a four-injection rabies vaccine series.

It takes time for a vaccine to tell the immune system to make its own antibodies, so human rabies immune globulin, also called HRIG, helps people who haven’t been previously vaccinated begin fighting the virus right away. It is a biologic injection made from human donors who have high levels of rabies antibodies in their blood. It is administered close to the wound and given as soon as possible to stop the virus from attaching to the nervous system.

After getting the first vaccine dose, you will return for additional doses on days three, seven and 14, according to CDC guidance. Immunocompromised adults need a fifth dose on day 28.

If a medical provider documents a rabies exposure, Medicare, Medicaid and most health insurance companies typically cover the vaccine series, Deming said. The antibody injection can also be covered with the appropriate medical coding, but there are also patient assistance programs and people can consult the hospital or health department to find ways to cover the costs if needed, she said.

How can I reduce my chance of rabies exposure? 

Do not approach wild animals. Don’t feed them and don’t rescue them. “Leave that to the actual wildlife rescue societies,” Deming said.

Get any pets or animals that frequently have human contact vaccinated against rabies.

“The vaccine is very effective and infected pets can be a common cause of transmission to people if they are not vaccinated,” LeRoith said, adding that people should keep pets from interacting with wildlife if possible.

PolitiFact Staff Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.