A second rabies-positive raccoon has been found in a Westlake Village backyard, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed on Friday, October 23 — less than three weeks after the county recorded its first rabid raccoon in more than 50 years. The animal appeared both sick and aggressive, and two people at a nearby worksite may have been exposed.
A 53-Year Streak Comes to an End
[For more than five decades, Los Angeles County had not confirmed a single case of rabies in a raccoon. That changed in early October 2026, when the county Department of Public Health announced the discovery of a rabid raccoon in the backyard of a Westlake Village home — the first confirmed case since 1973.
The first animal appeared sick but was not aggressive toward people, according to the county health department. Testing later confirmed it was infected with a rabies variant typically found in bats. Four county animal-care employees who may have been exposed received recommended rabies post-exposure treatment, and a dog that may have had contact with the animal — already current on its rabies vaccination — was placed under quarantine and reported to be doing well, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control.
The October case was the county's first confirmed rabid raccoon in 53 years. The last non-bat animal confirmed with rabies in the county was a skunk found in Long Beach in 2014, and that skunk carried the bat variant too.
The Second Case
The newly confirmed raccoon was discovered on Thursday in another Westlake Village backyard, in the same general area where the first was located. County health officials said Friday that this second animal appeared both sick and aggressive.
No residents or pets were exposed to the second raccoon, officials said, but two people at a nearby worksite may have been exposed and are receiving "recommended follow-up for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis" — a series of timely vaccines that prevent the disease after a possible exposure.
According to a city of Westlake Village announcement on Instagram on Thursday, county public health officials went door to door in the neighborhood to alert residents and share safety information.
What the Tests Tell Us
Variant testing on the first raccoon showed it carried a bat-variant strain of rabies, pointing to bats — not other raccoons — as the likely original source of infection. Testing on the second raccoon is still underway to determine which variant it carries, county officials said.
Officials told local reporters that the proximity in time and place of the two cases may point to a local wildlife exposure — both animals were found within the same general area within weeks of each other.
"The detection of rabies in another raccoon is an important reminder to never touch, handle, or feed any wild animals, even when they appear healthy," said Dr. Muntu Davis, the Los Angeles County health officer, in a statement. "Always keep a safe distance from wildlife and contact your local animal control if you encounter an animal that appears to be sick, injured, or behaving unusually. It is also critical to ensure your pets are up to date on rabies vaccination so they are protected before any potential exposure. Keeping your pets vaccinated is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your entire family."
Record Bat Season Fuels the Spread
[The unusual raccoon cases arrive against a backdrop of surging rabies activity among bats across Los Angeles County. According to county officials, a record-breaking 77 rabid bats have been confirmed in the county so far this year.
Bats have historically been the main source of rabies detections in the county. Officials note that peak season typically occurs in late summer, but bats with rabies can be found year-round.
Elsewhere in California, rabies detections among bats are also climbing. In Santa Cruz County, nine bats had tested positive for rabies as of late September, compared with three positive bats in all of 2025, according to county animal-shelter data cited by local news outlets.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system and can spread to people and pets through the bite or scratch of an infected animal, or through infected saliva entering an open wound or the eyes, nose, or mouth. In some cases, a person may not realize they have been bitten or scratched — particularly by a bat, whose tiny teeth may leave no mark. Typically, about 1.4 million people in the U.S. seek medical care each year after animal contact, and approximately 100,000 of them receive rabies post-exposure prophylaxis.
What This Means
Two rabid raccoons in the same neighborhood within weeks is genuinely unusual for Los Angeles County, and it is why officials are treating the situation seriously even though no residents have been exposed. Raccoons behave very differently from bats in human environments: they raid trash cans, eat pet food left on patios, and wander through yards where dogs, children, and outdoor workers spend time. A rabid raccoon therefore represents a much more direct bridge between the county's surging bat rabies and the people and pets around it.
The pattern also matters for public health planning. Both cases carry — or likely carry — the bat variant of the virus, which suggests the underlying driver is the record bat season, not a new raccoon-to-raccoon transmission chain. If the second raccoon's tests confirm the bat variant as well, officials will have stronger evidence that the county is seeing spillover events from bats into terrestrial wildlife, rather than the start of an established raccoon rabies cycle like the ones that exist on the East Coast of the United States.
That distinction is important because the East Coast's raccoon rabies variant has been circulating in terrestrial wildlife there for decades, requiring continuous, expensive oral-vaccine campaigns. Los Angeles County has never had an established raccoon rabies cycle, and officials want to keep it that way.
What Happens Next
County officials are continuing to monitor the Westlake Village area, and testing of the second raccoon's variant is expected to take several weeks. Public health teams have already gone door to door in the affected neighborhood, and the city of Westlake Village is using its official channels to keep residents informed.
Pet owners in the area are being urged to verify that their dogs and cats are current on rabies vaccinations — a vaccinated pet, as the first case showed with the quarantined dog, has a far better outcome if exposed. Anyone who encounters wildlife that appears sick, injured, or behaving unusually should contact local animal control rather than approaching the animal.
How to Stay Safe
Health officials say the precautions are simple: never touch, handle, or feed wild animals, even when they appear healthy. Keep a safe distance from wildlife, keep pets' rabies vaccinations current, and teach children to alert an adult if they see an animal acting strangely. If you are bitten or scratched by a wild animal, or if saliva from an animal gets into a wound or the eyes, nose, or mouth, seek medical attention promptly — post-exposure treatment is effective when given in time, but rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.
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