After several decades of decline, rabies has been re-emerging in several Central European countries since 2021. In the European Union, the number of cases in wildlife and domestic animals has risen in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. Research work coordinated by ANSES has shown that two groups of rabies virus are now circulating in the EU, including one that arrived only recently. As the European Union Reference Laboratory, ANSES is helping the affected countries track the spread of this disease.

The first resurgence of rabies cases in the EU occurred in Poland in 2021. Up to then, fewer than 10 infected animals had been reported each year, but in 2021 the number rose to 113, including 103 in wildlife – mainly foxes – and 10 in domestic animals.

A second major increase in the number of rabies cases affected Romania, Hungary and Slovakia in 2022, whereas Hungary and Slovakia had not detected any cases for several years. Since then, the virus has continued to circulate, with several dozen cases being recorded in some years and as many as 109 cases identified in Romania alone in 2025.

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