still become infected from exposure to wildlife. southwestern united states the primary terrestrial reservoirs for the southwest states are skunks and foxes, with bats being identified as another important species for virus persistence in the environment. in colorado the growing population pressures indicated by the increase in the number of residents by 9.2% between 2010 and 2016 has led to an elevated risk of rabies to the public. additionally, according to colorado parks and wildlife, reported cases, as well as the geographical distribution, in skunks, raccoons, and bats have increased; thereby further enhancing the likelihood of exposure. together these increased risk factors have been documented in the state by the colorado department of public health and environment, which reported 141 positive animals; 95 of these reported animal cases were suspected to have exposed 180 domestic pets, 193 livestock animals, and 59 people. in new mexico the same trend of increased prevalence in wildlife has been observed with a reported 57% increase in the number of rabid bats. as of 2017, there have been 11 confirmed cases of rabies in new mexico: 5 bats, 2 skunks, 2 bobcats, and 2 foxes. conversely to these two states, arizona in 2015 saw a drop in the number of confirmed rabies cases with a 21.3% decrease in reported skunk and fox rabies virus variants. furthermore, during that same time frame in arizona 53.3% of all reported positive rabies cases were bats and 40% were identified as skunks. similarly, in 2015, utah reported 22 positive cases of rabid bats. for the year of 2016 utah identified 20 cases of rabies, all in bat species. canada rabies is extremely rare in canada, since 1924 only 25 people have died of rabies, however rabies is endemic in canadian wildlife. as of 2021 there were only four cases of rabies in canada since 2000, three of which were exposed to the virus through a bat in canada. the province of ontario continues aerial drops of baits containing rabies vaccines, which reduced the incidence of rabies by 99% since the 1990s but continues to fight a 2015 outbreak of rabies in wild racoons imported from the usa. europe several countries in europe have been designated rabies-free jurisdictions: austria, the united kingdom, ireland, belgium, the netherlands, luxembourg, france, and switzerland, portugal, italy, spain, greece, malta, germany, denmark, norway, sweden, finland, latvia, estonia, the czech republic, iceland, and the republic of cyprus. spain the first case of rabies since 1978 was confirmed in the city of toledo, central spain, on 5 june 2013. the dog had been imported from morocco. no human fatalities have been reported, although adults and children were reported to have been bitten by the animal. there was another case in 2019, although the victim was infected in morocco, after being bitten by a cat. germany nine deaths from rabies were reported in germany between 1981 and 2005. two were caused by animal bites within germany (one fox, one dog), and four were acquired abroad. in the remaining three cases, the source was a transplant from an infected donor who had died of heart failure prior to developing rabies symptoms. on 28 september 2008, the world organisation for animal health declared germany as free of rabies. ireland in 1897 the disease of animals act included provisions to prevent the spread of rabies throughout ireland. there have been no indigenous cases reported since 1903. in 2009, four people in dublin received rabies vaccination therapy after being bitten by an imported kitten, although subsequent examination of the kitten yielded a negative result for rabies. united kingdom the uk was declared rabies free in 1902 but there were further outbreaks after 1918 when servicemen returning from war smuggled rabid dogs back to britain from france and belgium. the disease was subsequently re-eradicated and britain was declared rabies-free in 1922 after the introduction of compulsory quarantine for dogs. since 1902, there have been 26 deaths in the uk from rabies (excluding the european bat lyssavirus 2 case discussed below). a case in 1902 occurred shortly before the eradication of rabies from the uk, and no details were recorded for a case in 1919. all other cases of rabies caused by rabies virus acquired the infection while abroad. sixteen cases (62%) involved infections acquired in india, pakistan or bangladesh, with the remainder of infections originating in africa and southeast asia. since 2000, four deaths from rabies have occurred; none of these cases had received any post-exposure prophylactic treatment. in 2001, there were two deaths from infections acquired in nigeria and the philippines. one death occurred in 2005 from an infection acquired by a dog bite in goa (western india). a woman died on 6 january 2009 in belfast, northern ireland. she is believed to have been infected in south africa, probably from being scratched by a dog. prior to this, the last reported human case of the disease in northern ireland was in 1938. the most recent case was a woman who died on 28 may 2012 in london after being bitten by a dog in south asia. a rabies-like lyssavirus, called european bat lyssavirus 2, was identified in bats in 2003. in 2002, there was a fatal case in a bat handler involving infection with european bat lyssavirus 2; infection was probably acquired from a bite from a bat in scotland. benelux the netherlands has been designated rabies-free since 1923, belgium since 2008. isolated cases of rabies involving illegally smuggled pets from africa, as well as infected animals crossing the german and french borders, do occur. norway the death of a woman on 6 may 2019 from the rabies virus was reported to be the first in norway for almost 200 years. she contracted the virus while on holiday with friends in the philippines, and after being bitten by a stray puppy they had rescued. switzerland a rabies epidemic spread by red foxes reached switzerland in 1967. after multiple solutions were tried; baiting foxes with chicken heads laced with vaccine proved to be the most successful. switzerland has been rabies free since the 1990s. oceania australia australia is free of rabies. there have been two confirmed human deaths from the disease, in 1987 and 1990. both were contracted overseas. however, the closely related australian bat lyssavirus (ablv) has caused three deaths since its discovery in 1996; the most recent of these was in 2013, when an 8-year-old queensland boy was scratched on the wrist by an infected bat, developing ablv and dying 2 months afterwards. there is also a report of an 1867 case. public health officials have expressed concern that the arrival of rabies in australia is likely, given its widespread presence in nearby indonesia. rabies-free jurisdictions map of rabies-free countries and territories many countries and territories have been declared to be free of rabies. the centers for disease control and prevention published the following list on 2021 based on countries and territories that are free of rabies. africa: canary islands, cape verde, mayotte, madeira islands, melilla, réunion, saint helena americas: falkland islands, galápagos islands, south georgia and the south sandwich islands asia and the middle east: bahrain, british indian ocean territory, cyprus, hong kong, japan, macau sar, maldives, singapore europe: andorra, austria, azores, belgium, croatia, czech republic, denmark, estonia, faroe islands, finland, france, germany, gibraltar, greece, iceland, ireland, italy, latvia, liechtenstein, luxembourg, malta, monaco, netherlands, norway (except svalbard), portugal, san marino, slovakia, slovenia, spain, sweden, switzerland, united kingdom oceania: easter island, american samoa, australia, christmas island, cocos (keeling) islands, cook islands, fiji, french polynesia, guam, kiribati, marshall islands, micronesia, nauru, new caledonia, new zealand, niue, norfolk island, northern mariana islands, palau, pitcairn islands, samoa, solomon islands, tokelau, tonga, tuvalu, vanuatu, wake island antarctica: antarctica new zealand and australia have never had rabies. however, in australia, the closely related australian bat lyssavirus occurs normally in both insectivorous and fruit-eating bats (flying foxes) from most mainland states. scientists believe it is present in bat populations throughout the range of flying foxes in australia. rabies has also never been reported in cook islands, jersey in the channel islands, mainland norway, saint vincent and the grenadines and vanuatu.