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> six people have died from rabies nationwide since September 2024, a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson confirmed to CNN. In addition,

> six people have died from rabies nationwide since September 2024, a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson confirmed to CNN. In addition, the CDC is tracking 14 potential outbreaks in 20 states, So is that high or low? It would be useful to know what the median and max cases per year has been over the last few decades. 14 potential doesn't sound that bad if we're investigating them out of an abundance of caution. --- Edit: to semi-answer my own question, according to https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/reported-rabies-deaths?tab=line&time=earliest..2021&country=~USA https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/reported-rabies-deaths?ta... there were 7 deaths in 2011. So we are in a decade high, but with the numbers being so low in general seems like it might just be statistical noise.

cperciva 1y ago
According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, "about 1-3 human rabies cases are reported in the US each year": https://www.nfid.org/infectious-disease/rabies/ https://www.nfid.org/infectious-disease/rabies/ I would say that 6 deaths is definitely high compared to 1-3 cases.
- Retric 1y ago
  1-3 cases is nearly equivalent to 1-3 deaths. Rabies is almost 100% lethal after symptoms develop, and we don’t count people exposed who don’t develop symptoms as a rabies case.
- deleted 1y ago
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cameldrv 1y ago
In recent history, most all of the rabies cases in the U.S. have been from infections acquired in other countries. The fact that there are outbreaks at all is concerning and suggestive of an immunity tipping point being approached.