This fact sheet is for workers who may be exposed to the rabies virus on the job, and their employers.
Human rabies is now very rare, due to the development of domestic animal control programs.
In California, rabies is well established in the skunk and bat populations. A new vaccine is being used that has fewer side effects than the previous vaccines. If you think you may have been exposed to a rabid animal, retrieve and quarantine or euthanize the animal for testing, see a physician as soon as possible, and contact animal control authorities. He worked in a packing shed where a colony of bats lived on the roof and entered the packing shed through an opening in the wall. Daily, the worker was exposed to bats by walking through the packing shed.