The Nation - News from Aug. 11, 1986

The United States is grappling with an eight-year-long pattern of increased rabies among wild animals, but the deadly disease has struck few pets and no people. This year, 3,040 rabies cases were reported to the national Centers for Disease Control as of July 20, up 5% from the 2,892 cases at the same point a year ago and part of the trend, said Dr. Daniel Fishbein, a rabies specialist with the Atlanta-based CDC. Rabies, which attacks the brain and nervous system, is almost always fatal once it takes hold. However, Fishbein said, “There’s probably a lower risk of a human getting rabies than almost any other disease you can think of.”