What is the major reservoir for rabies on the East Coast?

• A. Skunk
• B. Fox
• C. Raccoon
• D. Bat

Answer: (C)

Raccoons serve as the main reservoir of rabies on the East Coast. Rabies persists in nature when the virus is maintained in wildlife populations that regularly carry and transmit it within their own species and to other animals. On the eastern seaboard, raccoons are highly adaptable to urban and suburban environments, have frequent interactions with other wildlife and pets, and thus sustain continuous transmission cycles in this region. Surveillance data over many years show that most wildlife rabies cases in the East involve raccoons, which is why control efforts focus on them, such as distributing oral rabies vaccines in bait to reduce raccoon-to-raccoon transmission. Bats do carry rabies and are an important source of human exposure, but they are not the principal reservoir driving rabies in this area. Skunks and foxes are more relevant reservoirs in other parts of the country, not the East Coast overall.