What causes rabies?

The virus is carried in saliva and can be transmitted when an infected animal bites or scratches, or when saliva contacts broken skin or the eyes, mouth or nose. Dogs, bats, foxes and other mammals may carry rabies in places where the virus circulates. Touching an animal, or contact with intact skin, is not the same as an exposure. Symptoms may not appear immediately, but once illness develops it is extremely serious. A person should not wait for symptoms or try to identify the virus at home.

Wash a bite or scratch promptly with running water and soap, without scrubbing deeply or sealing the wound. Avoid applying irritants. Seek urgent medical advice the same day and explain the animal, contact type, location and time. A clinician will assess the exposure and may recommend wound care, rabies vaccine and other post-exposure treatment. Do not delay while waiting to see whether the animal becomes ill. If the animal is available, do not handle or capture it yourself; local public-health or veterinary services can advise.

Any bite, scratch or saliva contact that could involve an infected mammal needs urgent professional advice, especially when the skin is broken or the face, hands or neck are involved. Go to emergency care for uncontrolled bleeding, deep wounds, severe swelling, breathing difficulty or altered awareness. A person who develops fever, unusual sensations near a wound, difficulty swallowing, agitation or confusion needs emergency help. Do not wait for these symptoms before seeking preventive treatment.

Does this contact count as a rabies exposure? Do I need post-exposure treatment or a tetanus review? What information about the animal and the wound should I provide?