For the first time in more than 20 years, rabies was confirmed in a river otter, officials said.

Millions of bats in the Eastern US and the Midwest have died from white nose syndrome disease, and it’s spreading.

Bats sighted in Goodnews

Arctic fox rabies is enzootic in populations of arctic and red fox populations along Alaska’s northern and western coasts. This means rabies is always present in these populations at some low level but periodically there can be outbreaks called epizootics (an outbreak in animal disease rather than an epidemic as is it is called when occurring in a human population). However, the winter of 2020-2021 ushered in a widespread outbreak with persistent and large focus in and around Nome.

Alaska Wildlife News is an online magazine published by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game