L.A. County Finds Its First Known Rabid Raccoon Since 1973

Four nearby workers are getting post-exposure rabies treatment, and a vaccinated dog is in quarantine, county health officials said.

A raccoon found in a Westlake Village backyard had rabies, L.A. County's first known rabid raccoon since 1973, health officials said Monday. It was sick but wasn't aggressive toward people, the county's Public Health Department said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Even so, four people working nearby are now getting post-exposure rabies treatment. A dog that may have been exposed is in quarantine. Its rabies shots were current, and officials say it's doing well.

The bigger question is where the raccoon caught the virus, and the county's best guess is a bat, given what Public Health knows about rabies in the county. The county has confirmed 70 rabid bats so far in 2026, a record, the Times reported. On Sept. 29 the county had only tied its old record, with peak season still ahead, and the yearly count has been climbing for more than a decade.

The 1973 raccoon came from a different time, when a skunk strain of rabies still circulated in the county. That strain hasn't been found here since 1979. Before this raccoon, no animal other than a bat had been confirmed with rabies in the county since 2014, when a skunk in Long Beach tested positive, and that skunk carried the bat strain.

It doesn't take a bite to catch rabies, according to the California Department of Public Health. The virus attacks the brain in people and animals alike, and a scratch can spread it, as can an infected animal's saliva or tissue getting into a wound or into the eyes, nose or mouth.

Human cases are still rare. The state health department counts 17 people infected with rabies in California since 1980, the most recent in 2024, and fewer than 10 people die of it each year nationwide, the Times reported. Bat researchers say the odds of catching it from a bat remain very low, according to the Times.

“The detection of rabies in a raccoon is an important reminder to never touch, handle, or feed any wild animals, even when they appear healthy,” Dr. Muntu Davis, the county's health officer, said, according to the Times. The county is asking residents to keep their distance from wildlife and to call local animal control about any wild animal that looks sick or hurt or is acting strangely.

The answer on the raccoon will come from the lab. Variant testing, which the department says can take several weeks, will show whether a bat really did pass the virus to a raccoon in Westlake Village.

Source: Los Angeles Times, retrieved October 6, 2026.