Despite a recent rash of people being attacked by rabid animals in the metro Tucson area, state officials say there have been too few incidents to consider it an outbreak.
Recent cases have included rabid animals attacking people or other animals, as well as reports to authorities of animals being aggressive or acting strange.
“We’ve got four animal attacks that tested rabid and probably an equal number of animals that were suspected of having rabies (but) never recovered,” said Mark Hart, a spokesman for Arizona Game and Fish.
Last year in Pima County, there were 28 cases of rabid animal cases, a number which, according to previous Star reporting, is below the annual average of 57 cases between 2014-19.
The confirmed cases include three hikers being attacked by a fox in Saguaro National Park-West in separate incidents April 3 and April 4; three horses attacked by a rabid coyote at two neighboring properties off Harrison Road north of Irvington Road Feb. 22; a rabid fox from the Vail area which was dropped off at the Tucson Wildlife Center Feb. 21; and a woman attacked by a bobcat in her carport near Reddington Nov. 27.
Security camera footage shows a rabid coyote attacking two horses in Tucson.
“There’s been a lot of activity that looks like rabies, but the challenge is, if we don’t recover the animal, we can’t test it,” said Hart. “So, if you look at AZGFD Tucson on Twitter, any time we have even a suspicious animal, we will put it out there as a warning to the public and a call to action.”
The unconfirmed cases include a gray fox which was filmed acting strangely on the patio of a home on East Chukut Trail near Agua Caliente Park Feb. 1; a bobcat which bit and scratched a man on Cactus Forest Drive in Saguaro National Park Jan. 21; a skunk which bit a man and chased others at the Proctor Trailhead in Madera Canyon Jan. 13; and a gray fox which bit one person and tried to attack another at the Molino Basin campground in the Catalina Mountains Dec. 27.
What the data show
The state of Arizona has recorded a total of 13 positive rabies cases in the first four months of 2024, a relatively higher number in comparison to the cases recorded in the first four months of 2022 and 2023, according to rabies data by the Arizona Department of Health Services.
“The last two years from January to April, we had five and seven animals respectively. However, if you go back further, this (year’s) number is actually less than average,” said Anne Justice-Allen, the state wildlife veterinarian for Game and Fish. “So, we really are on track to have a normal rabies incidents year.”
While the 13 cases for far in 2024 is higher in comparison to 2022 and 2023, which recorded an annual total of 49 and 58 cases respectively, it is a lower than average figure when compared to the annual total of 107 cases in 2020 and 136 cases in 2019.
“I think it’s really too early to tell,” Justice-Allen said about the recent incidents. “Our biggest upticks usually come a little bit later in the year – May and then in the fall.”
Pima County has conducted over a 100 rabies risk assessments in 2024 so far, out of which there have been six positive animals, according to Epidemiologist Anissa Taylor with the Pima County Health Department. Last year, over 400 rabies risk assessments conducted, while there were over 100 the year before, she said.
“August and September is where we have the highest amount of positive rabid animals coming in, and those tend to be driven by the numbers of bats that we have (following) their migration pattern,” said Taylor. “And National Rabies Awareness month is in September, so it’s kind of a known thing.”
Taylor said bats tend to be the most common rabid animal in Pima County, while neighboring counties like Santa Cruz tend to see a lot of skunk cases. The issues Pima County is currently facing with rabid foxes and their attacks on people and other animals is an anomaly, she said.
What to know about the disease
Rabies, which can be fatal, is a virus is transmitted through the saliva and not the blood, said Taylor. Thus, while bites are the most commonly spoken about and known method of exposure, simple scratches could also be a potential risk, especially with bats.
“A bat would also be considered a non-bite encounter,” said Taylor. “So, if a bat scratched you, that’s considered a potential rabies concern by the WHO, because if they’re grooming and they’re licking their claws and then they scratch a person, there could still be some potential. Obviously, a small percentage compared to a bite.”
Once the virus gets into the body through the saliva, it makes its way into the bloodstream and doesn’t stop until it reaches the brain, if not treated timely, said Taylor. The important thing to know is how fast it reaches the brain.
For instance, if a person gets scratched on the ankle, the virus will take longer to reach the brain as opposed to if the person is bitten or scratched on the face or the head. Hence, the time frame for a person to get treated for rabies post-exposure is subjective and depends on the exact type of exposure as well as their own immune system.
In terms of the signs to watch out for in rabid animals, Hart said any kind of extremely aggressive behaviors are characteristic of rabies. Animals which are staggering about, uncoordinated as if drunk or spinning around in circles as if they’re chasing their tails would be other signs to look for, he said.
“And then, as the disease progresses, (there’s) frothing at the mouth or extreme salivation because the animal at that point is literally dying of thirst. It wants to drink water but is suffering paralysis of the throat,” said Hart.
Hart said a definite sign is an animal which is standing by the water and salivating and frothing at the mouth but not drinking the water. And finally, in the latter stages, he said one can witness extreme attacks which are repetitive, seemingly out of the blue and unprovoked.
Hart and Justice-Allen said officials encourage individuals to get rabies treatment in the broad window between 48 and 72 hours.
What happens in a rabies treatment?
In cases where humans are exposed to the rabies virus, the treatment is called Postexposure prophylaxis , where a dose of human rabies immune globulin and rabies vaccine is first given on the day of exposure or close to it and then repeated on the third, seventh and fourteenth day after exposure, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This is to help the body understand and recognize the rabies virus and learn how to slowly fight it.
Where do the authorities come in?
In the process of how rabid animal attacks are handled, the Game and Fish department receives reports which are titled “human wildlife interaction reports,” which are classified into four categories, said Hart.
The first is an attack, the second is an animal which poses a potential threat to public safety, the third is a face-to-face interaction with the animal without an attack and the fourth is a sighting. In most cases of rabid animals, the animal is put down to curb the spread of the disease.
Once officers receive the report, their response time to the call is key, where the animal has to be swiftly reached and put down, according to Hart. Once put down, a rabies test can be sent for, whose results come within a day or two.
In cases of rabid animal sightings, the procedure is different, said Justice-Allen. The response time for the department is 24 hours or less when a call comes in about an animal acting aggressively, since it needs to be confined and tested for rabies. However, officials are not necessarily sent out for calls about non-aggressive animals.
The gray fox chewed patio furniture and tried to get into a house near Agua Caliente Park on Thursday. State wildlife officials say anyone who sees the fox should avoid it and immediately report the sighting by calling the 24-hour hotline at 623-236-7201.
What to do in a rabid animal encounter?
In order to avoid harm while confronted in a situation with a rabid animal, it is important to try and use non-lethal objects against the animal, like hiking poles. Also, try to maintain a distance from the animal while keeping an object in between.
Justice-Allen encourages the public to use the 24-hour dispatch number of the department, 623-236-7201, to ensure quick and effective response time to the situation.
“We don’t want people to be terrified,” said Hart. “But you need to be a little more careful and more importantly, observant. If you’ve got something in your community, if you have a suspicious animal, publicize it, even if you just suspect it.”
Rabies here most common in bats
Among the six rabies cases in Pima County so far, there are three foxes, two coyotes and one skunk. This is a wildly different statistic in comparison to last year’s, where 25 out of the 26 cases in Pima County involved bats.
“We’ve got a spike in the fox and skunk populations because of relatively good moisture last year, (which) means that conditions on the ground are good enough for populations to flourish,” said Hart. “In a drought year and excessive heat year, other factors can limit the growth of wildlife populations. But last year, depending on where you live in southeastern Arizona, you probably saw a decent amount of precipitation.”
2022 followed the same pattern as 2023, where all 26 Pima County cases involved bats, while 18 of the 19 cases in 2021 also involved bats. 2020 was an interesting year with six skunks, two foxes and 10 bats, with bats still leading.
