You can be infected with the rabies virus if you are bitten by an animal that has the disease. You can also get rabies if the saliva from a rabid animal gets in your eyes, nose, or mouth. This can happen if you get saliva on your fingers and then touch your face. Another way you can get rabies is by having the saliva of a rabid animal contact open cuts on your skin. If you have such contact with a rabid animal, only a series of injections (shots) can keep you from getting the disease. For this treatment to work well, it must be given soon after contact with the rabid animal. High Risk animals for carrying rabies include: Bats, Skunks, Coyotes, Foxes, and Raccoons!
If you are bitten
If an animal bites you, follow these steps. They may save your life.
- Quickly and thoroughly wash the bite with soap and water. Rinse it well. Put an antiseptic on it to kill germs.
- See a doctor as soon as possible. The doctor will decide if you need treatment to prevent rabies.
- Describe the animal that bit you – the kind, size, and color – to the doctor, local rabies control authority, or animal control officer. Tell children to get help from a teacher, nurse, parent, policeman, school guard, or other adult. Try to locate the animal or keep track of it if you know where it lives. Remember what it looked like and where it can be found.
- The local rabies control authority needs to have any biting dog, cat, or domestic ferret tested for rabies or observed for 10 days. If the quarantined dog, cat, or domestic ferret is alive 10 days after the bite, it could not have given you rabies. If the animal shows signs of rabies or dies during the observation period, it must be tested for rabies.
Biting skunks, bats, foxes, coyotes, and raccoons must be tested for rabies. If you are bitten by another kind of animal, the local rabies control authority will decide if it needs to be tested or observed for rabies.
How to prevent rabies
- By law, you must have a veterinarian vaccinate your dogs and cats against rabies. Ask a veterinarian about the best vaccination schedule for your pet. Keeping your pets vaccinated protects you and them.
- Restrain your pets; do not allow them to roam.
- Avoid contact with wild animals and with dogs and cats you do not know. Do not approach strange dogs or cats. Do not try to hand-feed wild animals and do not keep them as pets.
- Do not touch sick or injured animals. Call and report them to an animal control officer.