Israel's Health Ministry reports a rabid jackal at Kfar Hittim in the Galilee

Israel's Ministry of Health has issued a rabies advisory for Kfar Hittim, a community in the Lower Galilee Regional Council in the north of the country, after a jackal in the area was found to be rabid. According to the media statement published by the ministry's Environmental Health Department, the report of the rabid jackal was received on 8 September 2026, the epidemiological investigation is still under way, and no contacts are known at this stage.

The ministry asked anyone who came into contact with the rabid animal or with a stray animal in the area, or whose own animals did so, between 23.08.2026 and 06.09.26 inclusive, to make urgent contact with the Kinneret Health Bureau on 04 6710300 or with the health bureau closest to where they live, so that health professionals can decide whether preventive treatment is required. In the evenings and over the weekend, the statement said, people should go instead to a hospital emergency room.

What a health bureau is, and why the ministry names one

A health bureau, in Hebrew lishkat briut, is a district or sub-district office of the Ministry of Health. These offices handle public health functions that sit outside the hospital and clinic system, including epidemiological investigations and decisions on post-exposure treatment. The Kinneret Health Bureau covers the area around the Sea of Galilee, which is why it is the office named in this advisory, but the ministry made clear that people living elsewhere should approach whichever bureau is nearest to their home rather than travelling north.

Where Kfar Hittim is

Kfar Hittim is a community in the Lower Galilee Regional Council, one of Israel's regional councils, the tier of local government that administers rural communities, moshavim, kibbutzim and small villages spread across a defined area rather than a single town. The Lower Galilee lies in the north of Israel, inland from the Mediterranean coast and west of the Sea of Galilee. The ministry asked that news of the incident be passed on to visitors to the area and to neighbouring communities, an indication that the advisory is not intended to be limited to residents of Kfar Hittim alone.

Jackals and rabies

Rabies is a viral disease of mammals, transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal, typically by a bite or a scratch. Golden jackals are common wild carnivores in the Israeli countryside and are among the wildlife species involved in rabies reports in the north of the country. Because a wild animal ranges over a wide area and can infect stray dogs and cats along the way, the ministry's advisory covers not only contact with the jackal itself but contact with any stray animal in the vicinity during the specified window.

What the ministry is asking people to do

The statement set out several requests. Parents were asked to check with their children whether they had any contact with suspicious animals, and to contact a health bureau urgently if so. Pet owners were asked to approach their municipal veterinarian to confirm whether their animal's vaccination is up to date. The ministry also repeated its standing guidance that anyone bitten or scratched by an animal should immediately wash the site with running water and soap, disinfect it, and then contact a health bureau so that the need for preventive treatment against rabies can be assessed.

What the advisory does not say

The notice does not describe how the jackal was found or where exactly within Kfar Hittim the encounter or encounters took place, and it does not say how the animal was tested or by whom. It gives no information on whether any person or domestic animal was bitten, stating only that no contacts are currently known while the epidemiological investigation continues. It does not say whether other animals in the area are under observation, whether any culling or vaccination campaign is planned, or how long the advisory will remain in force. The publication carries a publish date of 08.09.2026 and an updated date of 09.09.2026, but the statement does not specify what was changed in the update. No other organisation's account of the incident was available alongside the ministry's own, and every detail above rests on that single official notice.