Experts have issued an urgent warning regarding rabies after six deaths from the disease have been reported in the US over the past 12 months.
Rabies is usually caught from a bite or scratch of an infected animal, though it can also be passed on through saliva if an infected animal licks your eyes, nose or mouth.
As per MedicalNewsToday, symptoms of rabies include confusion, partial paralysis, convulsions, producing a lot of saliva, and a 'fear of water or hydrophobia'.
While there is a vaccine for the disease that is almost always fatal once symptoms surface, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say they are monitoring 15 'likely' outbreaks in the US.
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Dr. Ryan Wallace, who leads the rabies team at the CDC, said: "We are currently tracking 15 different likely outbreaks. There are parts of the United States where it does seem like we’re getting more calls and more reports.
"Whether those numbers are truly significant increases, we can only tell at the end of the year. But right now, at peak rabies season, it does seem like activity is higher."
The health experts over there have said the areas in which outbreaks are a cause for concern include Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Nassau County, New York, as well as parts of Alaska, Arizona, California, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, North Carolina, Oregon, and Vermont, as per NBC News.
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Wallace added: "There are parts of the United States where it does seem like we’re getting more calls and more reports. Whether those numbers are truly significant increases, we can only tell at the end of the year. But right now, at peak rabies season, it does seem like activity is higher."
Franklin County in North Carolina is one of the areas to have suffered from a rabies outbreak, with cases doubled in wild animals over the past 12 months.
Scott LaVigne, the county’s health director, said: "For the number of confirmed cases to go up 100%, and we’re not even over this year’s rabies season, that’s a big deal. The population of Franklin County since 2010 has increased 35%, and those people have to live somewhere.
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"And so you’re seeing increased land development and housing tracts going in."
According to the World Health Organization, rabies is 'virtually 100% fatal' once the symptoms are known.
"The global cost of rabies is estimated to be around US$ 8.6 billion per year including lost lives and livelihoods, medical care and associated costs, as well as uncalculated psychological trauma." their website states.
Callum Jones