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ATLANTA
(AP) — Rabies killed five people in the United States
this year in the first such deaths reported since 1998,
the government said Thursday.
All
but one of the deaths occurred after the person was bitten
by a bat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported. The deaths took place in California, Georgia,
Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin.
The
New York victim was a 54-year-old man from Ghana who died
in September after he was bitten by a puppy before traveling
to the United States.
Untreated
rabies is fatal in humans.
In the
past decade, 32 people in the United States have contracted
rabies from bats or dogs, the CDC said. Rabies kills more
than 50,000 people worldwide each year, with more than 95
percent of those cases caused by dog bites.
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