McMaster Children's Hospital

CDC Alerts Clinicians to Surge in U.S. Rabies Exposures as Fatal Pediatric Case Highlights PEP Gaps

- The CDC issued a clinician alert after rabies-related inquiries rose 17% in July and August versus the same period last year, with vaccine use up 33% and immune globulin up 76%. - The alert followed the euthanasia of four rabid baby goats at a North Carolina petting zoo that exposed people to the virus, an event experts say may explain the entire increase. - A separate CMAJ report documented Ontario's first fatal human rabies case since 1967 in an 11-year-old boy exposed to a bat without visible bite or scratch marks. - Authors of the case report stress that any direct human contact with a bat warrants post-exposure prophylaxis, which is highly effective if given before symptoms develop.