Rabies Health Data
Rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. The vast majority of rabies cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year occur in wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes. Domestic animals account for less than 10% of the reported rabies cases, with cats, cattle, and dogs most often reported rabid.
Rabies virus infects the central nervous system, causing encephalopathy and ultimately death. Early symptoms of rabies in humans are nonspecific, consisting of fever, headache, and general malaise. As the disease progresses, neurological symptoms appear and may include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation, hypersalivation, difficulty swallowing, and hydrophobia (fear of water). Death usually occurs within days of the onset of symptoms.
Fox Rabies in New Mexico (La Rabia en los Zorros en Nuevo México)
Manual for Investigation and Control of Communicable Diseases in New Mexico, 2008: Rabies Chapter
New Mexico Rabies Fact Sheets
2012 Rabies Activity
UPDATED 02/08/2012
There have been 14 confirmed rabid animals in New Mexico in 2012, including 13 skunks and one dog, all from Eddy County (see press release of 01/05/2012).
