What should you know about rats and rabies?

Rabies is a serious infection that affects the nervous system. It can enter through a bite, scratch contaminated with saliva, or saliva contacting broken skin or the eyes, mouth, or nose. Contact with a rat’s fur, urine, faeces, or an intact skin surface is not the same as a saliva exposure.

The animal species, location, behaviour, whether it can be observed or tested, and the exact contact determine the recommendation. Do not wait for symptoms to decide what to do; once illness develops, treatment options are limited.

Wash a bite, scratch, or potentially contaminated wound immediately with plenty of soap and running water. Do not scrub aggressively, seal the wound, or apply irritant chemicals. Cover it with a clean dressing and contact urgent medical services or a public-health service promptly for a rabies assessment.

Record when and where contact occurred, what the animal did, whether skin was broken, and whether saliva touched an eye, mouth, or wound. Do not try to catch or handle the animal.

Seek urgent advice after any bite or scratch from a mammal that may carry rabies, or when saliva may have reached broken skin or a mucous membrane. Go to emergency care for uncontrolled bleeding, a deep wound, severe pain, or signs of infection such as spreading redness, swelling, pus, or fever. Prompt assessment is needed even when the wound looks small.

Ask whether the exposure needs post-exposure treatment, whether tetanus or wound care is needed, how the animal can be reported safely, and which symptoms require immediate return.