All warm-blooded mammals including humans are susceptible to rabies. Bats are the only rabies reservoir in the Pacific Northwest. In Washington, rabies has not been found in raccoons, skunks, foxes or coyotes. These species may carry the virus in other regions of the United States. Worldwide in developing countries dogs are the principal rabies reservoir.
Human rabies is an extremely rare disease.
Since 1990 the number of reported cases in the United States has ranged from 1 to 6 cases annually. Almost all human rabies cases acquired in the United States since 1980 have been due to bat rabies virus. When human rabies occurs due to exposure outside of the United States it is usually the result of the bite of a rabid dog. There was one fatal case of human rabies in Washington in 1995 and one in 1997. Both were due to bat rabies virus.