What should you know about people with rabies?

Rabies is a viral infection usually passed through the saliva of an infected animal, most often through a bite. Scratches or saliva contacting broken skin or the eyes, mouth, or nose can also be a concern. Early symptoms may resemble a general illness, with fever, weakness, headache, or unusual sensations near an injury. Later illness can affect swallowing, breathing, movement, alertness, and behaviour. A person cannot confirm rabies from symptoms alone, so a possible exposure should be assessed promptly even when the wound looks small.

Wash a bite or scratch immediately with soap and running water, then seek urgent medical advice. Do not wait for symptoms and do not rely on observing the animal unless a clinician or public-health service directs this. Assessment considers the animal, the contact, the wound, and whether preventive treatment is needed. Post-exposure treatment may include wound care, vaccine, and additional medicine for some exposures. See the rabies post-exposure prophylaxis information for the treatment pathway, and ask about rabies vaccination when prevention is relevant.

Seek urgent care now after a bite, scratch, or saliva exposure from an animal that may carry rabies, especially if the animal was stray, unavailable for assessment, behaving unusually, or encountered during travel. Emergency help is needed for confusion, difficulty swallowing, uncontrolled agitation, weakness, breathing difficulty, or seizures. These symptoms require immediate clinical attention and should not be managed at home.

Ask whether the exposure needs post-exposure prophylaxis, which wound-care steps are still useful, whether vaccination is indicated, and what information about the animal or travel history should be shared.