What should you know about rabies and saliva?

Rabies is associated with infected saliva from an infected mammal. The relevant route is saliva entering a bite, scratch, open wound, eye, nose, or mouth. Saliva touching healthy, unbroken skin is not the same type of exposure, but uncertainty about the skin or contact should be discussed with a clinician.

Do not taste, handle, or clean saliva from an unfamiliar or wild animal with bare hands. A pet’s vaccination history can help a clinician and veterinarian assess the situation, but it should not be used to postpone medical advice after a concerning event.

Move away from the animal and wash exposed skin or a wound thoroughly with soap and running water. Rinse the eyes or mouth with clean water if saliva reached them. Do not scrub an eye or apply household chemicals to skin. Write down the animal, contact type, time, and body site, then contact urgent care about rabies post-exposure prophylaxis.

Seek urgent medical advice after saliva from a potentially infected mammal enters broken skin, an eye, the nose, or the mouth. A bite or scratch also warrants prompt assessment. Do not wait for fever, tingling, swallowing difficulty, or behaviour changes; preventive treatment is considered before symptoms develop.

Ask whether the saliva contact qualifies as an exposure, whether the wound or eyes need additional care, and whether rabies treatment or vaccination is indicated. Share whether the animal was domestic, stray, wild, available for observation, or behaving unusually.