Questions & Answers

What causes rabies?
Rabies is caused by a virus. The virus invades the central nervous system and disrupts its functioning.

How does rabies spread?
The rabies virus is transmitted in the saliva of infected animals. People usually become infected with the virus by being bitten by an infected animal, but any contact with the saliva of an infected animal (alive or dead) can potentially lead to infection if the person has an opening in the skin or the saliva gets into their eyes, nose, or mouth.

You cannot get rabies from the blood, urine, or feces of a rabid animal, or from just touching or petting an animal.

How long does it take to show signs of rabies after being exposed?
For rabies, the incubation period is more variable than with other infections. Usually symptoms appear anywhere from 10-60 days following exposure to the virus, but they can occur as early as a few days after exposure or as long as a year later.

What are the symptoms of rabies?
The rabies virus attacks the nervous system (brain and spinal cord). The first symptoms of rabies are similar to a flu-like illness--fever, headache, and general discomfort. Within days, the disease can progress to symptoms such as anxiety, confusion, agitation, abnormal behavior, delirium, and hallucinations.

Once symptoms appear, the disease is almost always fatal. Therefore, any person who has been bitten, scratched, or somehow exposed to the saliva of a potentially rabid animal should see a physician as soon as possible for postexposure treatment.

How serious is rabies?
Rabies is an extremely painful and deadly disease. As mentioned above, if prompt and appropriate post-exposure treatment is not received, the disease is fatal. Each year rabies kills approximately 50,000 people around the world. Deaths from rabies are rare in the United States because of the wide availability of rabies vaccine and rabies immune globulin.

What should I do if a neighborhood dog bites my child?
Rabies is not common in dogs, cats, ferrets, and livestock in the United States because most are vaccinated against rabies. However, you should get medical attention for any animal bite. If the pet appeared healthy at the time your child was bitten, it can be confined for 10 days and observed; no anti-rabies treatment need be given to your child. If the pet appeared ill at the time it bit your child, it should be evaluated by a veterinarian for signs of rabies. Your physician will be able to give you more specific advice for your situation.

If rabies isn't common in U.S. dogs and cats anymore, is there anything to worry about?
Unfortunately, the rabies hosts have changed from domestic animals to wild ones. Before 1960, the majority of rabies cases in the United States involved domestic animals; now more than 90% of all animal cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention occur in wildlife.

What animals usually get infected with rabies?
In 2001, wild animals such as raccoons, bats, and skunks accounted for 93% of the 7,437 cases of animal rabies in the United States and Puerto Rico. Raccoons were involved in 37% of the cases, skunks in 31%, bats in 17%, and foxes in 6% of the cases.

While rabies is not commonly found in rabbits, squirrels, and rodents, any mammal can be infected by rabies.

On a camping trip we woke up to find a bat in our tent. Should we have been concerned?
Yes. Because bats have small teeth and claws, it is possible to be bitten by a bat and not know it. Therefore, if you find you've been sleeping in the same room with a bat you should see a doctor as soon as possible. This also applies if a bat is found in a room with a child or a mentally impaired or intoxicated person.

The bat should be tested for rabies if possible. Call animal control or a wildlife conservation officer for help in capturing the bat if there is any question of exposure.

What should I do if I find a bat in my house?
If you're sure no family members or pets have possibly been bitten by the bat, confine the bat to a room and leave one window open for the bat to exit. If the bat doesn't leave, call animal control for assistance or for advice in safely capturing the bat. Bats that are the easiest to approach and capture (unable to fly, etc.) are the most likely to have rabies, so it is best to never handle any bat.

I've been bitten by a raccoon--what should I do?
If you've been bitten or scratched by any animal, you should

1. Clean the area immediately with soap and water
2. See a health professional as soon as possible, ideally within 24-48 hours
3. Notify your state or local health department

How is rabies diagnosed?
Rabies can be very difficult to diagnose. Laboratory tests can find rabies virus in the saliva, skin, or brain tissue of a patient; unfortunately, this is not possible until late in the disease when it is too late for treatment. Therefore, the physician or other health professional will most likely make a diagnosis based on the details of contact with a potentially infected animal and the likelihood of rabies infection in that species in that geographical location. Obviously, diagnosis is easier if the animal involved is available for testing.

What does postexposure treatment involve?
In the United States, postexposure treatment consists of one dose of immune globulin (a blood product containing antibodies to rabies virus) and five doses of rabies vaccine over a 28-day period. More detailed information about the vaccine is found in the "Rabies Vaccine" section.

The good news is that if postexposure treatment is given correctly and in time, it is 100% effective in preventing rabies disease.

Can you get rabies from another person?
This has only occurred in eight persons, all of whom received infected transplanted corneas. Stricter guidelines for acceptance of donor corneas have been adopted as a result of these cases.

In theory, infected humans could transmit rabies through a bite or other exposure, but no laboratory-confirmed cases of rabies occurring in this way have been reported.

How common is rabies in the United States?
Rabies has been reported in every state except Hawaii. In 2003, the other 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico reported 6,846 cases of rabies in animals. There were two reported cases in humans in 2003.

In the last 100 years, the number of human deaths from rabies in the United States has fallen from 100 or more per year to an average of 1-2 per year. This decline is due to both the improved control and vaccination of domestic animals and to the development of effective postexposure treatment and vaccines. Although human deaths from rabies are now rare in the United States, every year approximately 40,000 persons receive postexposure treatment for rabies exposure.

How common is rabies in the world?
The rabies virus can be found everywhere except a few Caribbean islands, England, Ireland, Japan, Taiwan, Spain, and Portugal. In the United States, western Europe, Canada, and some of Latin America, rabies has been almost eliminated from domestic dogs, but is still active in the wildlife population.

Rabies is a big problem in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. Each year rabies kills more than 50,000 people and millions of animals worldwide.

Exposure to rabid dogs is the cause of over 90% of human rabies cases and over 99% of human deaths from rabies worldwide. Although vaccination of dogs and elimination of strays has been shown to effectively prevent most cases of human rabies, the cost of such a control program is beyond the reach of most developing countries. In the United States, the estimated annual cost for rabies prevention (primarily dog vaccinations) is over $300 million.

How can I help prevent rabies in my pet and myself?

1. Vaccinate your pets (dogs, cats, ferrets) and livestock (sheep, cattle, horses) against rabies. Don't let your pets wander unsupervised. Spay or neuter your pets; pets that are fixed are less likely to leave home and become strays.
2. Contact animal control to remove stray animals or animals acting sick or strange in your neighborhood.
3. Never touch or approach unfamiliar animals, domestic or wild. Don't touch dead animals. Teach your children the same.
4. Seal openings into your home (basement, porch, attic, and chimney openings) to prevent wild animals from gaining entrance.
5. If you do get bitten by an animal, wash the wound with soap and water for at least five minutes and then seek medical care.

Questions and answers about rabies vaccine

Technically reviewed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October 2005