Rabies Fears Rise in US After Animal Attacks, but Case Increase Unclear

Unusual incidents involving humans and rabid animals, along with a subsequent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory, have raised public concern about rabies in the United States, though experts say it remains unclear whether cases of the disease have actually increased, according to The Guardian.

In recent months, rabid beavers attacked three people in Maryland, and hundreds of people were exposed to goats with rabies at a petting zoo in North Carolina, the newspaper reported, citing news reports.

The CDC issued a health advisory on September 10 "in response to recent reports of increases in human exposures to rabid or possibly rabid animals," according to The Guardian.