Two people treated after second rabid raccoon found in Westlake Village

Two people exposed to a rabid raccoon at a Westlake Village worksite are receiving emergency treatment to prevent infection. That is the most consequential number in Los Angeles County’s second raccoon rabies incident this year: two people who need preventive care, not two diagnosed human cases. No human rabies diagnosis has been announced in either incident. ¹

The distinction matters because rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms begin, but prompt post-exposure prophylaxis is highly effective at preventing disease. Treatment after a possible exposure is meant to stop that outcome before illness develops—not evidence that it has already happened. ⁴

The second raccoon was sick and aggressive when found in a backyard near the location of the first case, CBS Los Angeles reported October 23, 2026, citing county Public Health officials. Two people were exposed at a worksite; no pets were exposed to this animal. Officials have not established publicly the precise form of the people’s contact with it, when they began treatment or their subsequent clinical follow-up. ¹

These are the county’s first confirmed rabid raccoons since 1973. Public-health staff went door to door around the discoveries to notify residents and share safety information. The city’s notice identifies Westlake Village, within Los Angeles County, but gives no street-level boundary or defined precaution radius. Two nearby detections warrant vigilance; they do not, by themselves, establish a widening geographic outbreak. ⁹

The first raccoon was found in September, according to county surveillance information, and the city says the discoveries were approximately one month apart. The county announced the first case on October 5. Both animals had been confirmed positive by October 22, and the county’s release listing dates its second-case announcement October 23. Those announcement dates should not be mistaken for the days the animals were discovered or people were exposed. The exact discovery, exposure and laboratory-result dates for the second incident have not been established. ^{5 4 9 11}

There is also a wording difference worth reading carefully. Westlake Village’s October 22 safety notice said “no residents have been exposed.” CBS’s October 23 report, citing Public Health, identified two exposed people at a worksite. The people’s residency has not been established, so the city’s resident-specific statement does not cancel out the worksite exposures—and cannot safely be shortened to “nobody was exposed.” ^{9 1}

The first incident involved a different exposure report. On October 5, Public Health said four people at a worksite may have been exposed and were receiving recommended follow-up for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis. A dog current on its rabies vaccination was also possibly exposed, under quarantine and doing well at that time. The first raccoon appeared sick but reportedly was not aggressive toward people. Those are dated details of the earlier incident, not a current update on the dog or the second animal. ⁴

The earlier four-person figure and the newer two-person figure should not be added into a total of distinct individuals: the available information does not establish whether the groups overlap. What is clear is the difference between the reports—possible exposures involving four people and a vaccinated dog in the first, two exposed people and no exposed pets in the second. ^{4 1}

One important laboratory question has moved forward. The first raccoon carried a rabies variant typically found in bats; that result was still pending when the first case was announced. The second raccoon’s infection origin remains under investigation. Its positive rabies diagnosis is not in doubt; what investigators still need is the variant information that helps explain where the infection likely came from. ^{4 1}

The city says Public Health considers contact with infected bats the likely explanation for the unusual detections, and that they are not evidence of ongoing transmission among raccoons. That is a reason not to leap from two infected animals to a claim that rabies is now circulating persistently through the local raccoon population. It is not a completed finding about the second animal’s source. ^{9 1}

Bats remain the county’s established wildlife rabies concern. CBS reported a county-record 77 rabid bats in 2026 as of October 23, up from 70 in the October 5 county announcement. These are counts of animals found and tested, not estimates of the proportion of all bats infected. County surveillance also cautions that rabies may be present in places without reported cases. An empty spot on a detection map is not a guarantee of safety. ^{1 4 5}

The long gap in raccoon detections is real, but it does not mean the virus disappeared locally. The county’s previous confirmed rabid raccoon was detected in 1973, when a skunk strain still circulated; that strain has not been detected locally since 1979. Before this year’s raccoons, the last confirmed non-bat rabid animal was a Long Beach skunk carrying a bat variant in 2014. ⁴

Rabies attacks the central nervous system. It most commonly spreads through a bite or scratch from an infected animal, or when infected saliva reaches broken skin or the eyes, nose or mouth. Small or unnoticed bites can matter. Casual proximity does not transmit rabies, and blood, urine and feces are not transmission routes. Simply seeing a raccoon in a yard does not establish a need for treatment; a possible bite or saliva exposure does require immediate medical assessment. ⁴

Do not wait for symptoms to decide whether to seek care. Human illness can start with fever, weakness and headache before progressing to neurological symptoms, difficulty swallowing, coma and death. The opportunity for effective prevention comes before that progression. A bat found near a sleeping person, child or pet also needs prompt professional evaluation because contact may have gone unnoticed. ⁴

For Westlake Village residents, the reporting instructions are concrete: call Los Angeles County Animal Care at (562) 940-6898 about sick, disoriented, aggressive or deceased wildlife. A wild-mammal bite calls for immediate medical advice and a report to Public Health at (213) 288-7060; Veterinary Public Health also accepts reports at [email protected]. Keep your distance and let professionals assess and collect wildlife for testing. ^{9 4}

Warning signs include unusual aggression, attempts to approach people or pets, circling, trouble walking, poor coordination or paralysis. Bats active in daylight, grounded or unable to fly may be ill. These behaviors are reasons to call animal control, not a way for residents to diagnose rabies themselves. ¹

Keep dogs and cats current on rabies vaccinations, including indoor-only cats and older pets. A pet bitten by a wild mammal needs immediate veterinary attention and reports to animal control and Public Health. County guidance calls for a rabies vaccination response and temporary home quarantine for observation under professional direction. Removing outdoor pet food, securing trash lids, sealing crawl spaces and clearing yard debris can also reduce opportunities for wildlife encounters. ⁴

The next meaningful developments are the second raccoon’s variant result, any additional animal detections or exposures, and any publicly released follow-up on the two people’s preventive care. No date for those updates has been announced. Until then, the useful response is neither to dismiss the detections nor to assume every nearby animal is infected: avoid contact, keep pets protected and act immediately on a possible exposure. ^{1 9 4}