Recently we have had many posts about the fear of contracting rabies from the most unlikely of scenarios.

I thought I would make a post with some facts about Rabies which will hopefully put some peoples minds at rest a little.

Most of the posts we get come from people in the US, so this post is aimed at those in the US


What is Rabies?
Rabies is a viral disease affecting the central nervous system of warm-blooded animals

How rare is Rabies
In this century, the number of human deaths caused by rabies in the United States has drastically declined, from more than 100 cases per year to an average of just two or three cases a year…. This fact was in 2014 and that number is still declining!

So that means that there are 325.7 million people in the United States…….. That is 325700000 and just 2 or 3 of those 325700000 people per year contract rabies, that is a completely miniscule chance of contracting Rabies

Since 2008 there have been 23 cases of human rabies infection, 8 of which were due to exposures outside of the U.S

How is Rabies Transmitted?
Transmission occurs when saliva containing the rabies virus is introduced into an opening in the skin. 90% of animals which are infected with rabies are wild animals, the chances of a pet passing Rabies on to you is very very rare and can not be transmitted by you by walking on or touching something that a rabid animal may or may not have walked on/chewed.

you need to have an open wound on which a rabid animal has got saliva to contract Rabies

Rabies is NOT transmitted by a rabid animals blood..... just saliva

Bats and other animals will not jump out and bite you in your sleep

If an animal bites you you WILL know….. animals are NOT ninjas you will notice if an animal has bitten you. You WILL see the animal.

To make the chances even less (than very very minimal).......
vaccinate your pets and other domestic animals (like cows, goats, sheep, and horses)

Avoid contact with wild animals – do not feed or handle them, even if they seem friendly. If you see a wild animal acting strangely, report it to animal control.

Wash any wound with hot soapy water and keep it clean and covered

2 last things to remember....

1.... How miniscule your chances of contracting rabies actually is in the USA... 3 in 325700000 at most! that is roughly 0.0000000092% chance!!

 2.... This is the Rabies virus.... it looks so much friendlier if you add googly eyes and think of it like that