With recent findings of rabies-infected bats in Shasta County in April and Tehama County in July, health officials in Northern California are urging residents to stay away from animals that appear to be ill and to vaccinate household pets against the rare and avoidable but potentially deadly viral disease.
Most recently, the Tehama County Health Services Agency announced on Tuesday, July 14 that two bats that tested positive for rabies had been found in residential communities.
In Shasta County, one bat tested positive for rabies in April, Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency spokesman Christopher Diamond said. No other information was released, but the agency urged anyone with questions about possible exposure to call officials at 530-225-5591.
In 2025, two bats tested positive, the Shasta County agency said. No people contracted rabies in 2025 or so far this year in Shasta County, the agency said.
Additional information on rabies can be found on the Rabies and Bite Prevention webpage of the Shasta County HHSA website.
Rabies in bats is widespread in Tehama County, according to the health agency said. Bats and other wild animals are also the most common source of human rabies infections in the U.S.
In Tehama County in September 2023, an infected fox was found in the Woodson Bridge State Recreation Area in Corning, 22 miles south and southeast of Red Bluff, public health officials said.
In 2025, one rabies case, in a bat, was confirmed in Tehama County, said the California Department of Public Health’s online database.
While it’s widely believed that rabid animals are easy to spot because they drool excessively and foam at the mouth, most animals will display these symptoms only in the latter stages of infection, if at all, said Tehama County health officials.
“A better way to identify animals that pose a risk is to recognize unusual or abnormal behavior. Rabid animals, wild or domestic, may stagger, appear restless, be aggressive, change the tone of their barks or growls, orappear to be choking,” said the agency.
Sometimes infected wild animals lose their fear of humans and act friendly, while animals that are usually passive can become fierce and aggressive, health officials said.
So be alert and call the closest Animal Control office if you spot an animal exhibiting these kinds of distress, health experts advise.
From North State health experts, here is more information about avoiding animals with rabies and steps to take should you encounter one.
What is rabies?
Rabies is a viral disease that affects mammals. It’s “most often transmitted to humans and other animals from the bite of a rabid animal,” Tehama County Public Health Director Minnie Sagar said. “The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, including the brain.”
After exposure, the virus has to travel to the brain before symptoms appear, an incubation period that can last for weeks or longer, according to the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Symptoms of rabies
Early symptoms of rabies may be similar to influenza: weakness, fever, headache, and/or a prickly or itchy feeling near the bite. Eventually more serious symptoms appear, including anxiety, confusion, agitation, partial paralysis, delirium, hallucinations, a fear of water and insomnia, according to the CDC.
Humans and other mammals may experience the same symptoms, public health branches report.
Rabies is rare in humans in the U.S.
California public health agencies report that fewer than 10 people die from rabies each year in the United States.
“Bats are the leading cause of rabies deaths in people. Rabies can spread to people from bats after minor, seemingly unimportant, or unrecognized bites or scratches,” according to the CDC’s rabies prevention information web page.
No cases of rabies were reported in animals between Jan. 1 and June 4, 2026 in Shasta, Siskiyou, Lassen or Trinity counties, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.
Statewide during the period covering Jan. 1 to June 4, 2026, California Public Health officials reported rabies cases in 113 bats, 16 skunks and one dog, according to the website.
Rabies can kill if not stopped early
If allowed to progress to the point when symptoms appear, rabies is almost “always fatal,” according to the CDC. By then, treatments can only help alleviate the patient’s suffering, not cure them. That’s why it’s important to act fast if someone gets bitten, the CDC said.
While vaccines, medicines and technologies have long been available to prevent death from rabies, the virus kills an estimated 59,000 people worldwide each year, most from bites from infected dogs. Ninety-five percent of human rabies deaths occur in Africa and Asia, according to WHO.
Rabies can usually be avoided
A good way to avoid rabies and other diseases is to not touch wildlife and stay away from any animal whose behavior seems strange. Teach children to do the same, Sagar said.
If wounded by an animal, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water and get medical treatment right away, Sagar said.
Also vaccinate pets against rabies and don’t allow them to chase wildlife or otherwise expose themselves, according to public health branches.
Anti-rabies shots are given where?
Until the 1980s, a person exposed to rabies required a series of painful shots in their stomach. Not anymore, Sagar said. Post-exposure treatment is usually an injection to boost the immune system and four additional injections over a two-week period, all in the arm.
That five-shot series “has proven 100% effective if started within 14 days of exposure,” Sagar said. Common side effects of the shots are redness and soreness in the arm, she said.
Quick action to take if you’ve been exposed
Any wild mammal (such as a raccoon, skunk, fox, coyote or bat) can have rabies and transmit it to people.
Call your local animal regulation service to report potential exposures, to remove a bat, for rabies testing of the bat or other animal or other information:
• Unincorporated Shasta County Animal Control: 530-245-6065• City of Redding and Anderson Animal Regulation: 530-241-2550• Shasta Lake Animal Control: 530-275-7480
Michele Chandler covers public safety, reports on major trials happening in Shasta County Superior Court, writes about restaurants and handles whatever else comes up for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Accepts story tips at 530-338-7753 and at mrchandler@gannett.com. Please support our entire newsroom’s commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Rabies confirmed in Shasta, Tehama county bats. How to stay safe
Reporting by Michele Chandler and Jessica Skropanic, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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By Michele Chandler and Jessica Skropanic, Redding Record Searchlight | USA TODAY Network
