The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association has published a North American rabies surveillance report for 2020.

You can access the full report at the JAMA website. Here are a few highlights.

The number of wild animals testing positive for rabies in the US stayed consistent with previous years. The percentage of rabies cases among the total wildlife tested was 8.9%.

Wild animals that most frequently tested positive:

• Raccoons
• Bats
• Skunks
• Foxes

Smaller numbers of other wildlife also tested positive, including groundhogs, bobcats, coyotes, deer, and otters.

Among domestic pets in the US, 37 dogs tested positive, and 288 cats tested positive. The number for dogs was significantly down from the previous year, while cases in cats were up.

Cows and a small number of horses and goats also tested positive for rabies.

What states had the highest incidence of rabies in 2020?

• Texas
• Pennsylvania
• Virginia
• New York
• North Carolina
• New Jersey
• Maryland
• California

In Canada, the highest rates were reported in Manitoba, Quebec, and British Columbia. An outbreak in the far north was attributed to the arctic fox.

Dogs accounted for the most positive rabies test results in Mexico, followed by cats, cows, and bats. Mexico has implemented a large-scale free rabies vaccination campaign, leading the World Health Organization to recognize it as the first country to have eliminated dog-transmitted human rabies cases.

The report’s authors note that the number of samples submitted for study in 2020 was lower than in previous years for all 3 countries. This was most likely due to the Covid pandemic.

The CDC’s rabies webpage has some tips on protecting pets from rabies:

• Vaccinate pet dogs, cats, and ferrets and keep vaccines up to date.
• Keep cats and ferrets indoors and supervise dogs outdoors.
• Spay and neuter your pets to reduce the number of animals that are unvaccinated and roam outdoors.
• Report any stray animals you see in your neighborhood to animal control.