She said there was a similar outbreak in the mid-1980s. Year to year, bats present the biggest rabies risk to humans, according to Leslie. This is not because bats have rabies more than other animals but because rabid bats that fall to the ground are more likely to be handled by kids than a sick land animal is. Leslie said rabies is in the animal's saliva. The disease is most commonly transferred from animal to human through a bite, but infected saliva can also enter through a human's nose, mouth or eyes.
Rabies is lethal in humans.
There is no test to tell whether a human has contracted rabies until it's too late. That's why the vaccines are administered if there's even a suspicion of contact with a rabid animal. Arizona's second-most prominent zoonotic concern is the hantavirus. The disease has occurred primarily in the state's rural areas and is spread to humans through droppings of deer mice. Thirty-three cases have been reported in Arizona since 1992.