A child in Yuba City had contact with a bat found on the ground outside the family's home on September 25, and the animal later tested positive for rabies, officials announced. The discovery marks the third rabid bat incident reported in Sutter County since late summer, as health agencies across California track a statewide surge in bat-related rabies cases.
What Happened on the 1100 Block
The exposure occurred on the 1100 block in Yuba City, according to FOX40, which reported the incident. The bat was collected by Sutter Animal Services Authority and submitted for testing, and the Sacramento County Public Health Lab confirmed the animal was positive for rabies. The child's parents were subsequently informed about the contact so they could seek appropriate medical guidance.
Sutter Animal Services Authority is urging residents never to touch bats, especially ones that appear sick, grounded, or dead, per the same report. The agency routinely collects grounded or dead bats found in Sutter County, which are tested by the Sutter County Environmental Health Lab; bats from Yuba County are tested by the Placer County Environmental Health Lab, according to the Sutter Yuba Mosquito & Vector Control District.
A Pattern Repeating Across Sutter County
This is not the first such case in the area this year. On September 8, Sutter County health officials reported a separate incident near the 2000 block of Cypress Street in Sutter, where a child came into contact with a dead bat that also tested positive for rabies, as reported by ABC10. Weeks earlier, on July 31, a rabid bat was found floating in a Sutter County swimming pool, prompting public health officials to initiate preventive rabies treatment for an exposed teenager.
Regional health agencies have also flagged similar concerns. On September 21, the Colusa County Division of Public Health issued an alert after a bat collected following a human exposure in neighboring Colusa County tested positive for rabies, according to the Colusa County Division of Public Health. Officials there advised immediate wound washing and medical consultation following any contact with wild animals.
Why Bat Bites Can Go Unnoticed
UC Davis Health infectious disease specialists advised in September that bat teeth are small enough that bites often go undetected, which is why medical evaluation is recommended for anyone who handles a bat or finds one in a sleeping child's room. Human rabies deaths remain rare in the United States but are virtually always fatal once symptoms develop, the health system noted.
California had a human rabies case in 2024 involving a Fresno County resident exposed to a bat in Merced County.
A Statewide Surge in Bat Rabies Cases
More than nine out of ten rabid animals reported in the state this year have been bats, according to KCRA 3. Los Angeles County reported a record-matching 69 confirmed rabid bats so far in 2026 as of September 28, World Rabies Day, with one in three bats submitted for testing in August returning positive results, per CBS News.
On September 10, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a national Health Alert Network advisory warning of a nationwide surge in human exposures to rabid animals, noting a 17% increase in rabies-related public inquiries during the summer of 2026.
What Pet Owners Should Know
State regulations also carry implications for households with pets. Under California Code of Regulations Title 17, a domestic pet exposed to a rabid animal must undergo a 30-day quarantine if currently vaccinated, or up to six months of quarantine or euthanasia if unvaccinated, according to the California Department of Public Health. State law requires all dogs over four months of age to maintain up-to-date rabies vaccinations. It remains unclear whether any household pets were involved in the Yuba City exposure.
