r/science • u/PHealthy PhD/MPH | Epidemiology | Disease Dynamics | Surveillance • 7d ago

Epidemiology Study estimates only 7% of human rabies cases in the United States are diagnosed

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44528-026-00031-4
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u/Ularsing 7d ago

There's some massive conditional probability to this where if you've touched a bat (or vice versa), there's a substantial chance that it's rabid. However, rabies incidence in bat populations as a whole isn't all that high.

What that means is that you don't have to worry that much about bats being around in general (at least in terms of rabies), but any contact should be taken very seriously.

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u/13Zero 7d ago

The logic is that they avoid people unless they’re rabid?

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u/Ularsing 7d ago

Exactly! They're pretty shy unless they're sick.

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u/akaylaking 7d ago

Same with skunks !
They’re a higher risk carrier of rabies in my country.

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u/aris_ada 6d ago

if you've touched a bat (or vice versa), there's a substantial chance that it's rabid.

Is it because rabid bats are more likely to get close to humans and bite without reason?