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Humboldt County health official urges pet vaccination after skunks and bats test positive for rabies in Blue Lake
Summary
A Humboldt County environmental‑health supervisor reported two confirmed rabies cases in Blue Lake (both skunks) and six countywide positives this year, urged residents to avoid contact with wildlife and to get pets vaccinated; county testing is free for suspected human‑exposure cases.
Bendolph, supervisor of the consumer protection program at the Humboldt County Division of Environmental Health, told the Blue Lake City Council that Blue Lake has recorded two confirmed rabies cases this year, both skunks, and the county has logged six positive tests including bats and a recent fox. “Bats are actually also responsible for the most incidence of human illness and human exposure in rabies,” Bendolph said, explaining the county’s testing and response work.
County staff said they perform rabies testing at no charge when there is possible human exposure and coordinate with Humboldt Wildlife Care Center for euthanasia and specimen collection when necessary. Bendolph described how rabies travels through the nervous system rather than blood, noted incubation can be days to months, and said clinical disease is nearly always fatal once symptomatic.
He reviewed quarantine rules that affect pet owners: if an animal has no vaccine history and is potentially exposed to wildlife, the quarantine is six months; for animals current on rabies vaccine, the quarantine period can be 30 days; a known vaccinated domestic animal associated with a human exposure can trigger a 10‑day public‑health observation for the human case, depending on circumstances. “If an animal is current on its vaccine, that’s reduced to 30 days,” he said.
Council members asked operational questions about how to report suspected animals and whether the county runs surveillance sampling; Bendolph said the program is prioritized for potential human exposures and that full surveillance is limited because the definitive test requires examination of brain tissue. He added the county tests roughly 40–50 animals per year and that bats are the most commonly tested species. “We will absolutely test. There’s no charge for our testing,” Bendolph said.
Mayor/Presiding officer and council members thanked the county for the outreach and asked staff to keep the public informed; staff confirmed the county rabies awareness flyer has been posted on the city website.
