Short Answer: Yes — and Raccoons Are One of the Highest-Risk Carriers in the US
Raccoons are not a borderline case. According to CDC surveillance, raccoons account for roughly 29% of all rabies cases in US wildlife each year, second only to bats at 35%. They are the primary reservoir of the raccoon rabies variant, which is endemic across much of the eastern United States and is the target of one of the largest wildlife disease control programs in the country.
For practical purposes, this means: a bite, scratch, or saliva exposure from a wild raccoon in the United States should always be treated as a potential rabies exposure and evaluated for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). This is the CDC's position, and the position of every US state health department.
What CDC Data Actually Shows
Share of US Wildlife Rabies Cases
The CDC's annual rabies surveillance breakdown for US wildlife consistently shows roughly:
- Bats: 35% of cases
- Raccoons: 29% of cases
- Skunks: 17% of cases
- Foxes: 8% of cases
- Other wildlife and unspecified species: the remainder
In absolute numbers, that has historically translated to around 1,000-1,200 confirmed rabid raccoons per year reported to CDC surveillance — and the true number of infected raccoons is higher, because most wildlife rabies cases never come into contact with humans or get tested.
Where Raccoon Rabies Is Endemic
The raccoon rabies variant is concentrated in the eastern US. CDC describes the endemic zone as extending "from Canada to Florida and as far west as the Appalachian Mountain range." Rabid raccoons are rarely reported west of the Appalachians, although raccoons there can still occasionally be infected with other variants (skunk variant in particular).
If you live in the eastern US — from New York and Pennsylvania down through Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida — you live in an active raccoon rabies enzootic zone.
The USDA Oral Vaccine Program
To stop the raccoon variant from spreading further west, the USDA's National Wildlife Rabies Management Program distributes more than 7 million oral rabies vaccine baits in raccoon habitat annually. The baits are dropped from aircraft and placed by hand in a barrier along the western edge of the endemic zone. This is the largest wildlife disease control program of its kind in the country and is a major reason raccoon rabies has not become a national problem.
How to Tell If a Raccoon Might Have Rabies
Two pieces of folklore mislead people here. The first is that any daytime raccoon is rabid. The second is that rabid raccoons are easy to spot. Neither is reliable.
Daytime Activity Alone Is Not a Sign
Raccoons in urban and suburban areas frequently forage during the day, especially nursing mothers and juveniles. Daytime activity by itself does not indicate rabies.
What Does Suggest Rabies
- Unprovoked aggression toward people or pets
- Staggering, circling, or inability to walk normally
- Apparent paralysis, especially of the hind legs
- Excessive drooling or foaming at the mouth
- Complete loss of fear of humans — walking up to people calmly
- Self-mutilation or biting at the air
- Vocalisations that sound strangled or unusual
However — and this is the critical point — rabies in raccoons can present without obvious neurological signs in the early phase. A normal-looking raccoon can still be infectious. This is exactly why CDC and state health departments treat any raccoon bite as a presumptive exposure, regardless of how the animal appeared.
What to Do After a Raccoon Bite or Scratch
Act in this order. Do not wait to see whether you develop symptoms — by the time rabies symptoms appear, the disease is almost always fatal.
1. Wash and Flush the Wound Thoroughly
Wash and flush with soap and running water for about 15 minutes when possible. Wound cleansing alone significantly reduces rabies risk and is the single most important first step. Apply povidone-iodine or another antiseptic if available.
2. Contact Local Public Health Immediately
Call your county or state health department. They will assess the exposure, determine whether the raccoon can be captured and tested, and direct you to a healthcare facility listing.
3. Begin Post-Exposure Prophylaxis
Standard CDC PEP for an unvaccinated person consists of:
- Day 0: wound washing, a single dose of human rabies immune globulin (HRIG) infiltrated around the wound, and the first dose of rabies vaccine.
- Day 3: second vaccine dose.
- Day 7: third vaccine dose.
- Day 14: fourth vaccine dose.
- Immunocompromised individuals receive a fifth dose on day 28.
If you have previously completed a full rabies vaccination course, the protocol is shorter — only two booster vaccine doses on days 0 and 3, with no HRIG required. See PEP for previously vaccinated people.
4. Capture or Identify the Raccoon If Safely Possible
If the raccoon can be safely contained (or has been killed), animal control can have it tested for rabies — if the test is negative, a healthcare or public-health professional may advise stopping PEP based on observation or testing. Never try to capture an aggressive raccoon yourself; call animal control. Do not damage the head, since rabies testing requires intact brain tissue.
For step-by-step bite first-aid guidance that applies to any exposure, see what to do after a bite.
What About Pet Raccoons or Raccoon Encounters That Did Not Involve a Bite?
Pet Raccoons
Keeping a pet raccoon is illegal in most US states. Where it is legal, no USDA-licensed rabies vaccine is approved for raccoons, which means a pet raccoon involved in any bite incident is typically treated as an unvaccinated wild animal. The legal and medical consequences for the owner are severe.
Saliva or Scratch Contact Without a Bite
Rabies virus is transmitted through saliva entering a wound or mucous membrane. Scratches that draw blood and any saliva contact with broken skin, eyes, or mouth count as potential exposures. A casual scratch through clothing that does not break the skin is generally not considered a rabies exposure — but if you are uncertain, call public health rather than self-assess.
Finding a Raccoon in Your Home or Garage
Do not approach. Open a door or window to give the animal an exit route, then call animal control. If the raccoon was in a room with a sleeping person, child, or someone who cannot reliably describe contact, treat it like a bat exposure and seek medical evaluation. Confirmed direct contact is not always necessary to recommend PEP in this scenario.
How to Reduce Raccoon Encounters
- Secure trash bins with locking lids or store them in a garage.
- Never leave pet food or water outside overnight.
- Close off attic and crawl space entry points; cap chimneys.
- Pick up fallen fruit and seal compost bins.
- Vaccinate dogs and cats — even indoor cats — to keep wildlife encounters from becoming wildlife exposures.
- Teach children never to approach raccoons or any wildlife, especially animals that appear unusually friendly.
If you want to gauge rabies risk in your specific area or for a specific exposure, the SafeRabies exposure checklist walks through the same decision points clinicians use.
How Raccoons Compare to Other Common US Wildlife Concerns
- Raccoons: 29% of US wildlife rabies cases. Treat any bite as exposure.
- Bats: 35% — even no-bite encounters can warrant PEP. See bat exposure guide.
- Skunks: 17% — also higher-concern, similar approach to raccoons.
- Foxes: 8% — an important reservoir in regions where fox variant is endemic.
- Opossums: an animal in which rabies is reported uncommonly, partly because of its cool body temperature — see can opossums get rabies.
- Squirrels, rats, mice: almost never carry rabies — see do squirrels carry rabies and do rats and mice carry rabies.
Within the group with frequent potential exposure, raccoons stand out because of how often they encounter people: they thrive in suburbs, raid trash bins, nest in attics, and are aggressive defenders when cornered. Treating any raccoon bite as a rabies exposure is not paranoia — it is the standard of care.