Number of human rabies cases in France

In France, 26 cases of human rabies have been diagnosed since 1970. All but two of the patients were imported cases, most of whom were infected in Africa; one of these had been infected through a cornea transplant from a donor returning from Egypt and died without a diagnosis. The two non-imported cases were infected in French Guiana in 2008 and in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in 2019, respectively.

In 2008, a locally acquired human case was diagnosed in French Guiana, likely linked to infection by a bat.

In 2014, a patient returning from a stay of several months in Mali was diagnosed with rabies. The exact source of the infection could not be established, as the patient was no longer able to provide information at the time of diagnosis. Analysis of the viral strain by the National Reference Center for Rabies (Institut Pasteur, Paris) confirmed the geographic origin of the virus.

In 2016, a foreign patient developed fatal encephalitis during a tourist visit to France. The patient had reported a dog bite that occurred during a trip to Pakistan in 2015. The diagnosis of rabies was confirmed in 2017 during additional postmortem examinations.

In 2017, a diagnosis of rabies was established in a child infected by a puppy during a trip to Sri Lanka.

In 2019, a patient living in a rural area in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region died following encephalitis of undetermined etiology. The diagnosis of rabies was established retrospectively during a study using genomic research to investigate patients with encephalitis who had died without a diagnosis. This patient was infected with a Lyssavirus of the European Bat Lyssavirus 1 (EBLV-1) type and had not traveled to a rabies-risk area. He was regularly exposed to bats at his home in France, but those around him were unaware of any incidents involving bites or scratches. He had not received a preventive vaccination and had never consulted a rabies center. The most likely source of his infection was transmission of the virus by a bat during an unnoticed encounter or one that the patient did not deem worth mentioning to his family, friends, or a doctor. This is the fourth confirmed case worldwide of human infection with EBLV, and the first case of autochthonous rabies in metropolitan France since 1924.

In 2023, a patient from the Grand Est region died of rabies. The diagnosis of rabies was suspected upon her admission to the University Hospital of Reims, due to a recent trip to Morocco during which she had been bitten by a stray cat. The National Rabies Reference Center at the Pasteur Institute confirmed infection with a classical rabies virus. A person bitten by the same animal was able to receive post-exposure treatment. Moroccan health authorities were informed of this case of human rabies and of the possibility that other people in the area may have been infected by the same cat or other animals.

Imported cases of canine rabies resulting in rabies exposure risk for people residing in France

Since 1968, 44 dogs and 4 cats with rabies—all imported except for one cat—have been diagnosed in France. Each of these cases resulted in the management of people exposed to the virus in highly variable numbers: ranging from 2 to 187 people. The two infected dogs responsible for the highest number of cases requiring medical care for exposed individuals had attended public gatherings during their contagious period (an outdoor festival for one, a school for the other). The cat with autochthonous rabies was infected with the EBLV1 virus, transmitted by insectivorous bats.