Health
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Public Health
Deaths from rabies are rare in the United States, with fewer than 10 cases identified each year.
Nonetheless, each year, thousands of people receive preventive treatment for rabies following a bite or other direct contact with an animal with possible rabies.
The Fresno County Department of Public Health and the Merced County Department of Public Health worked with CDPH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate rabies as a possible cause of the patient’s illness in mid-November.
Samples collected at the hospital where the patient was being cared for were submitted to the state’s Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory where evidence of rabies was confirmed.
The individual was hospitalized in a Fresno County hospital after experiencing symptoms and died late last week.
“Bites from bats can be incredibly small and difficult to see or to detect. It is important to wash your hands and look for any open wounds after touching a wild animal, and to seek immediate medical care if bitten,” said CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás J. Aragón. “It is always safest to leave wild animals alone. Do not approach, touch, or try to feed any animals that you don't know."
What should you do if you come in contact with a bat?
If a bat – dead or alive – is found, CDPH urges residents to take the following precautions:
• Bites from bats are often imperceptible, or very minor as occurred in this case, yet are one of the most common sources of human rabies in the US.
• Do not touch the bat; contact local animal control to remove or collect it. Keep pets and family members away from the area.
• If you touch a bat, wash the area with soap and water; if you are bitten, immediately contact your healthcare provider for additional guidance.
• Report the incident to your local health department.
• Even if you aren't sure whether you've been bitten, it is recommended to seek medical attention. For instance, persons who find a bat indoors, particularly in areas where people were sleeping, should discuss rabies treatment with their health care provider even if they are not aware of any bites or other contact with the bat. Additionally, if you find a bat near a person who can't report a bite, such as a small child or a person with a disability, assume that person has been bitten.
What is rabies?
Rabies is a viral disease that is deadly in people if medical care is not received before symptoms appear; symptoms usually appear about 3 to 8 weeks after exposure but can occur earlier or months later. Rabies is spread to humans and pets primarily through bites from an infected animal.
All mammals, including humans, can be infected with the rabies virus. In California, bats and skunks are the animals that most often get rabies. Each year, thousands of people in the United States receive medical care following a possible rabies exposure.
Fortunately, rabies control measures taken in the U.S., including widespread vaccination of pet dogs, have significantly reduced rabies as a public health threat.
Common signs that an animal has rabies
An animal with rabies will have strange or unnatural behavior because the rabies virus attacks the brain.
These behaviors can include:
• A bat that can’t fly or has been caught by a dog or a cat.
• A wild animal that seems unusually tame or unafraid to approach people.
• An animal out during the day that is usually active only at night.
• A pet that has trouble walking, eating, or drinking, or that has a change in personality or how it acts.
• A normally calm animal that acts in an agitated or aggressive manner.
How to prevent rabies
Because there is no treatment for rabies once symptoms begin, it is very important to prevent rabies exposures.
To prevent rabies, vaccinate pets against the rabies virus and keep them up to date on their shots. Don’t handle wild animals. Talk to a healthcare provider immediately if you think you may have been bitten by an animal, particularly a wild or sick-acting animal.
For more information see the CDPH web page on rabies.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
State health agencies determined that Dungeness crab in portions of northern California have unhealthy levels of domoic acid and recommended delaying the opening of the recreational fishery in state waters from the California/Oregon state line (42° 0.00’ N latitude) south to the southern boundary of the Reading Rock State Marine Reserve (41° 17.6’ N latitude) in Humboldt County.
Following this recommendation, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton H. Bonham ordered a delay of the opening of the recreational Dungeness crab fishery in this area of northern California. Recreational take and/or possession of Dungeness crab is prohibited in these closed waters. Please see the Directors Declaration regarding allowances for transiting and possessing Dungeness crab in the area. Other areas of the coast will open as scheduled.
Domoic acid is a potent neurotoxin produced by Pseudo-nitzschia, a naturally occurring single-celled, marine alga under certain ocean conditions. Domoic acid can accumulate in shellfish, other invertebrates and sometimes fish without the organism becoming ill themselves. At low levels, domoic acid exposure can cause nausea, diarrhea and dizziness in humans. At higher levels, it can cause persistent short-term memory loss, seizures and can in some cases be fatal.
This delay of season shall remain in effect until the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, in consultation with the State Public Health Officer of California Department of Public Health, or CDPH, determines that domoic acid no longer poses a significant risk to public health. Results of the sampling could change, or eliminate, the need for this delayed area.
If a determination is made that the delay should be changed or lifted, announcements will be made as soon as possible. Pursuant to Fish and Game Code, section 5523, the Director of CDFW will notify the California Fish and Game Commission of the delay and request that the Commission schedule a public discussion at its next scheduled meeting.
The latest information on current fishing season closures related to domoic acid will be updated on CDFW’s fishery closure information and health advisories website or by calling CDFW’s Domoic Acid Fishery Closure Information Line at 831-649-2883.
The latest domoic acid test results for Dungeness crab are posted on the CDPH’s Domoic Acid website (subsection Analytical Data – Crabs).
For the latest consumption warnings, please check for any Dungeness crab health advisory information on the CDPH's shellfish advisories page or by calling the CDPH’s Biotoxin information Line at 510-412-4643 or toll-free at (800) 553-4133.
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
These are the first human cases of bird flu identified in the state and are both in Central Valley individuals who had contact with infected dairy cattle.
There is no known link or contact between the two cases, suggesting only animal-to-human spread of the virus in California.
Like the first case, the second individual has also experienced mild symptoms, including conjunctivitis (eye symptoms), and neither reported respiratory symptoms, nor was hospitalized. To protect patient privacy, additional details will not be provided at this time.
The risk to the general public remains low, but people who interact with infected animals, like dairy or poultry farm workers, are at higher risk of getting bird flu.
CDPH recommends that personal protective equipment, or PPE, such as respirators (N95 masks), eye protection (face shields or safety goggles), and gloves be worn by anyone working with animals or materials that are infected or potentially infected with the bird flu virus. Wearing PPE helps prevent infection.
Please see CDPH’s Worker Protection from Bird Flu for full PPE guidance.
Pasteurized milk and dairy products continue to be safe to consume, as pasteurization is fully effective at inactivating the bird flu virus.
As an added precaution, and according to longstanding state and federal requirements, milk from sick cows is not permitted in the public milk supply.
CDPH has helped coordinate and support outreach to dairy producers and farm workers on preventive measures that have helped keep human cases low in other states with bird flu outbreaks.
CDPH continues to support local health departments in distributing PPE from state and federal stockpiles directly to affected dairy farms, farmworker organizations, poultry farm workers, those who handle raw dairy products, and slaughterhouse workers.
To protect California farm workers from bird flu, during the last four months CDPH has distributed more than 340,000 respirators, 1.3 million gloves, 160,000 goggles and face shields, and 168,000 bouffant caps.
In addition, CDPH is working closely with local public health laboratories and local health departments to provide health checks for exposed individuals and ensure testing and treatment are available when needed.
As one of the 14 states with infected dairy herds, California also received 5,000 additional doses of seasonal flu vaccine for farm workers from the CDC. CDPH is working to distribute the doses to local health departments with the highest number of dairy farms.
CDPH has been tracking bird flu and making preparations for a possible human infection since the state’s first detection in poultry in 2022. CDPH partners closely with the California Department of Food & Agriculture on a broad approach to protect human and animal health.
CDPH and the CDC use both human and wastewater surveillance tools to detect and monitor for bird flu, and work closely with local health departments to prepare, prevent, and lessen its impact on human health.
People exposed to infected animals should monitor for the following symptoms for 10 days after their last exposure: eye redness (conjunctivitis), cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, trouble breathing, and fever. If they start to feel sick, they should immediately isolate, notify their local public health department, and work with public health and health care providers to get timely testing and treatment.
CDPH recommends that all Californians — especially workers at risk for exposure to bird flu — receive a seasonal flu vaccine. Although the seasonal flu vaccine will not protect against bird flu, it can decrease the risk of being infected with both viruses at the same time and reduce the chance of severe illness from seasonal flu.
For the latest information on the national bird flu response, see the CDC’s Bird Flu Response Update.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Public Health
The California Department of Public Health, or CDPH, is reminding Californians and travelers that more people are infected with Valley fever in late summer and fall than at other times of the year, which is why August has been designated as Valley Fever Awareness Month.
Valley fever can infect the lungs and cause respiratory symptoms, and in rare cases, be fatal.
“We’re preparing for another possible increase in Valley fever cases in the coming months, and we want Californians to know the signs and symptoms to detect it early,” said CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón. “If you have a lingering cough and fatigue, please talk to a doctor about Valley fever, especially if you’ve been outdoors in dusty air in the Central Valley or Central Coast regions.”
Increasing cases
Valley fever is on the rise in California, with over 9,000 cases reported statewide in 2023 and over 5,000 preliminary cases reported this year, as of July 1.
Possible causes of this recent increase include winter rains after several years of drought, an increase in soil disturbance activities (including construction) in high-risk areas, and increased disease recognition, testing and reporting.
In addition, while most cases of Valley fever in California are reported from the Central Valley and Central Coast regions, cases have been increasing outside of these regions, including in the northern Central Valley and in southern California.
Given this increase, healthcare providers caring for patients with prolonged respiratory symptoms should ask about outdoor dust exposure or recent travel to areas where Valley fever is more common and consider Valley fever as a potential diagnosis.
Risk factors and prevention tips
People can get Valley fever by breathing in dust from outdoor air that contains the Valley fever fungus. Anyone who lives, works, or travels in an area where Valley fever has been reported can become infected, including pets.
Valley fever is not contagious and cannot spread from one person or animal to another.
Those who spend more time outdoors and are exposed to dirt and dust in areas where Valley fever is common are more likely to get Valley fever.
Factors that can increase a person’s risk of getting severe Valley fever include being an older adult (60+ years old), having diabetes or a condition that weakens the immune system, or being pregnant.
People who are Black or Filipino also have been noted to have a higher risk of severe disease from Valley fever, which may relate to underlying health conditions, health inequities, or other possible predispositions.
Practical tips may help prevent Valley fever in areas with high rates:
• When it is windy outside and the air is dusty, stay indoors and keep windows and doors closed.
• When driving through a dusty area, keep car windows closed and use recirculating air, if possible.
• Before digging, wet down soil and dirt to prevent stirring up dust into the air.
• Consider wearing a properly fitted N95 respirator (mask) if you must be in dusty air outdoors in these areas.
About Valley fever
Valley fever, also known as coccidioidomycosis or “cocci,” usually affects the lungs and can cause prolonged respiratory symptoms like cough and chest pain, as well as lingering fatigue, tiredness, and headache.
While Valley fever shares many of the same symptoms as other respiratory diseases (including COVID-19), it takes about one to three weeks for Valley fever symptoms to develop, and illness can last a month or more.
Laboratory tests are needed to know whether symptoms are caused by Valley fever or another illness. If you test negative for COVID-19, have respiratory symptoms that last more than a week, and live in or have recently traveled to an area where Valley fever is more common, you should talk to a doctor about Valley fever.
For additional information on Valley fever, please visit CDPH’s Valley fever website.
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