Rabies Kills Five People, First Such Deaths Since 1998

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.