The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 17% increase in rabies exposure inquiries from July through August 2026, compared with the same period in 2025. The rise came as the agency issued a Health Alert Network advisory over more human exposures to rabid or possibly rabid animals and more rabies post-exposure prophylaxis administration errors.
That combination puts pressure on clinicians who must decide quickly whether a bite, scratch or oral secretion creates enough risk to start PEP. The CDC said rabies remains nearly 100% fatal but preventable when PEP is given appropriately before symptoms start.
CDC July-August Inquiry Increase
From July through August 2026, the CDC received reports from at least eight state health departments of increased rabies PEP use, PEP administration errors, or both. Since July 2026, multiple United States jurisdictions have also reported local increases in human rabies exposures involving known rabies vectors or animals in which rabies is less commonly reported.
The agency said that each year about 1.4 million people in the United States seek medical care after animal contact and undergo evaluation, and about 100,000 receive rabies PEP after a potential exposure. The current rise adds more volume to a system that already relies on fast decisions at the point of care.
PEP Use And Stock Levels
Weekly pharmacy data as of September 2, 2026, showed estimated utilization increases of 33% for the two rabies vaccines licensed in the United States and 76% for the two rabies immunoglobulins licensed in the United States, compared with the same time period last year. The products listed were Imovax and RabAvert for vaccine, and KEDRAB and HyperRab for human rabies immunoglobulin.
Although the CDC says there is currently no shortage of human rabies vaccine or human rabies immunoglobulin in the United States, the sharper use figures suggest clinicians are drawing from those supplies more often and must manage dosing and timing carefully. The advisory said PEP should follow ACIP recommendations and that careful rabies risk assessment is important before treatment.
ACIP Guidance For Clinicians
The CDC’s guidance leaves clinicians with a simple order of operations: assess the exposure, clean the wound, give vaccine when indicated, and dose HRIG correctly. That sequence matters most for people exposed to rabid or possibly rabid animals, because the treatment only works when it is started before symptoms begin.
For readers who have had a bite, scratch or contact with animal saliva, the practical step is to get medical evaluation quickly and make sure the exposure is reviewed against ACIP recommendations rather than guessed at in the moment. The CDC’s reporting points to a higher current burden on both patient decisions and clinic stock management, with local increases still being tracked across jurisdictions.
