By: Sara Jerde | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Though raccoons are the ones that get the bad reputation -- see one out in the day and stay away -- there are actually many different types of animals in the Garden State that contract rabies.

Raccoons are the most frequent offenders. But, over the past few years, about 20 different species have gotten the virus, which causes an inflammation of the brain in animals and humans.

In 2017, the state of New Jersey saw fewer rabid animals than it had four years prior. In 2014, there were almost 350 cases. Last year, there were 208.

But, the number has ranged over the years. Since the 1930s when it began collecting the data, there have been years with no recorded cases, and in 1991, a high count of 994 rabid animals, Janelle Fleming, a spokeswoman for the state's Department of Health, said in an email.

"Rabies is cyclical in nature and New Jersey local health departments work hard to raise awareness and educate residents on how to prevent rabies transmission to people and their pets," Fleming said.

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via GIPHY

In New Jersey, you'll mostly find rabid raccoons, bats and skunks, but last year, about a dozen different types of animals tested positive for the disease. There are two types of the rabies virus circulating here in the animal community — the bat virus variant and the raccoon virus variant.

You'll find raccoons living in dense populations in suburban areas and often expose other animals, such as skunks, foxes, groundhogs and cats to rabies by biting them, Fleming said.

If untreated before symptoms like violent movements and erratic behavior arise, rabies is fatal. But, fatal cases of rabies in people in New Jersey is rare. Most often, people get rabies from bats, officials said. In the last 60 years in the state, there have been only two cases of rabies in humans by way of bats. One occurred in 1971, the other in 1997, Fleming said.

Here's where all the rabid animals were in 2017:

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21. Hudson County

Congrats, Hudson County! You're the only one without any rabid animals last year. What gives?

"Hudson County is extremely urban and the raccoon population is not as dense there compared to more suburban counties," Fleming said.

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20. Cape May County

Cape May County was close! The county saw only one rabid animal (a raccoon) last year.

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via GIPHY

19. Salem County

Salem County had two rabid animals to report last year -- both of them were raccoons.

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18. Union County

Union County had three rabid raccoons last year.

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17. Atlantic County

Atlantic County had four rabid animals, and a range of types. The county saw a rabid raccoon, skunk, fox and cat.

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16. Bergen County (tie)

Bergen County had five rabid animals last year -- three cats, a raccoon, and a bat.

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16. Cumberland County (tie)

Cumberland also had five rabid animals, but mostly raccoons.

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14. Warren County

Warren County had six rabid animals -- two bats, two cats, a raccoon and a skunk.

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13. Essex County

Essex County had eight rabid animals, and was one of only a handful of counties to see a rabid fox. It also had five raccoons and two bats with rabies.

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12. Passaic County (tie)

Passaic County had nine rabid animals, mostly skunks. It also had two raccoons, and one cat.

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(AP file photo)

12. Somerset County (tie)

Somerset County also saw nine rabid animals, mostly raccoons. The count also included a skunk, and a groundhog.

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10. Camden County

Camden County saw 10 rabid animals -- eight raccoons, one skunk, and one cat.

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(Getty Images. File photo)

9. Sussex County

Sussex County saw 11 rabid animals, again, mostly raccoons. It also saw confirmed rabies cases in two foxes, two bats, one groundhog, and the only rabid bovine found in New Jersey last year.

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8. Middlesex County (tie)

There were a dozen rabid animals in Middlesex. Of those, five were raccoon, four skunk and three bats.

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via GIPHY

8. Gloucester County (tie)

There were also a dozen rabid animals in Gloucester last year. Of them, there were five raccoons, three skunks, and four bats.

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File photo.

6. Mercer County

In Mercer County, there were 14 rabid animals, mostly raccoons and bats. Mercer had the most rabid bats (five) out of any county.

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5. Ocean County

There were 15 rabid animals in Ocean County last year -- seven raccoons, three skunks, two cats, and three bats.

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4. Hunterdon County

The relatively rural Hunterdon County saw 16 rabid animals. Eleven of them were raccoons, four were bats, and one a cat.

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3. Burlington County

Burlington County saw 17 rabid animals, of which 13 were raccoons. It also logged two rabid cats, one skunk, and one fox.

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2. Monmouth County

Monmouth County had the second-highest number of animals with rabies at 22. This county had 18 rabid raccoons, the highest number of any county. It also saw a skunk, a fox, and two cats with rabies.

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File photo.

1. Morris County

Morris was the county with the highest number of rabid animals, at 27. Morris County also had the most rabid skunks of any New Jersey county (eight of them). Morris also saw 10 raccoons, three bats, two cats, one deer, and a fox with rabies, as well as two animals the Department of Health classifies as "other" wild animals, which could include otters, coyotes, and others.

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All told, in 2017, New Jersey saw 113 raccoons, 31 bats, 30 skunks, 18 cats, eight foxes, two groundhogs, one deer, one bovine, and four other animals with rabies. Though it has seen cases in the past, there were no rabid dogs, horses, or ferrets logged in the state last year.

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Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.

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