Wścieklizna w Polsce w roku 2020

This paper presents the epizootic situation of rabies in Poland in 2020. According to the monitoring data, rabies was diagnosed in 2 domestic animals (a dog and a cow), and in 10 wild animals (foxes and bats). Rabies in domestic animals and in free-living foxes, was found in the provinces of Southeast (Lublin Province and Subcarpathia), and in bats in Northwest Poland. Rabies in foxes was recognized in voivodships where oral immunization was carried out in 2020. The high number of cases in bats confirms, that they have become a new reservoir of rabies virus among wild animals. At the same time, it should be emphasized that the high share of bats as a reservoir of the virus, which has been maintained in recent years, contributes to the increase of the epidemiological threat. It is especially important, since in the case of transmission from a bat, the clinical picture is entirely different if comparing the other sources of the virus, and thus the diagnosis may be much more difficult.