# Rabies outbreaks and CDC cuts

Lifestyle · Heat 5.9 / 10 · 2 shows · 12m airtime

The CDC issued a national health advisory on September 30, 2026, citing local increases in human rabies exposures amid unusual animal outbreaks, including rabid beavers in Maryland, a goat cluster in North Carolina, surges in Idaho and Alabama, and a record year for rabid bats in California. The agency's rabies team has lost about 30 percent of staff and can no longer advise state officials after hours. Rabies-related calls rose about 17 percent over last summer, with shots up 33 percent and immunoglobulin up 76 percent. The USDA is dropping about 600,000 vaccine baits over North Carolina this month to hold raccoon rabies west of the Appalachians. No human rabies cases have been confirmed in the U.S. this year.

Page: https://boilpoints.com/point/rabies_outbreaks_and_cdc_cuts_4182668713

## Segments

- [This Week in Virology](https://boilpoints.com/u/thisweekinvirology), 2026-10-24, 17:35 to 20:11: **Adds the CDC team's 30 percent staff loss**. Picks up the New York Times report on unusual animal rabies outbreaks and the shrinking CDC rabies team, noting the advisory on human exposures and that no human cases have been confirmed this year. The hosts add their own exposure anecdotes and worry about undiagnosed cases. New angle: The CDC rabies team lost about 30 percent of staff and can no longer advise state officials after hours.
- [Unbiased Science](https://boilpoints.com/u/unbiasedscience), 2026-10-28, 1:58 to 5:28: **Adds the CDC's call and treatment volume figures**. Opens the episode by recapping the September CDC alert and adds the agency's own volume figures: rabies-related calls up about 17 percent over last summer, post-exposure shots up about 33 percent and immunoglobulin up 76 percent. Frames the hour with global and U.S. baseline numbers. New angle: Rabies-related calls rose about 17 percent over last summer, with shots up 33 percent and immunoglobulin up 76 percent.
- [Unbiased Science](https://boilpoints.com/u/unbiasedscience), 2026-10-28, 9:17 to 14:29: **Explains the wildlife reservoirs behind the advisory**. Walks through the wildlife reservoirs behind the advisory - bats in all 50 states, foxes in the southwest, skunks in the midwest, raccoons on the east coast - and retells the North Carolina goat cluster as an example of spillover. Background and explanation, no new development.
- [Unbiased Science](https://boilpoints.com/u/unbiasedscience), 2026-10-28, 15:34 to 16:45: **Reports the USDA raccoon bait drop**. Walks through testing rates by species and the practical bat-in-the-bedroom rule, then puts on the record a scheduled federal action: the USDA's October raccoon vaccine bait drop over North Carolina. The testing percentages are background; the bait drop is the new item. New angle: The USDA is dropping about 600,000 rabies vaccine baits over North Carolina this month to hold raccoon rabies west of the Appalachians.