The doctor will ask:. Wash your wound gently and thoroughly with soap and generous amounts of water. This may help wash away the virus. If the animal that bit you can be contained or captured without causing more injury, do so.
Do not kill the animal with a blow or a shot to the head, as the resulting injuries may make it difficult to perform laboratory tests to determine whether the animal has rabies. Tell your doctor that you have captured the animal that bit you. Your doctor may then contact the local health department to determine what to do with the animal. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.
This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Diagnosis At the time a potentially rabid animal bites you, there's no way to know whether the animal has transmitted the rabies virus to you. Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Rabies.
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Subscriber Exclusive Content. Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars? How viruses shape our world. The era of greyhound racing in the U. This is where the fear comes from. If the individual could swallow saliva easily, this would reduce the risk of spreading the virus to a new host. At the time of a bite, there is usually no way to tell for sure whether an animal is rabid, or whether it has passed on an infection. Lab tests may show antibodies , but these may not appear until later in the development of the disease.
The virus may be isolated from saliva or through a skin biopsy. However, by the time a diagnosis is confirmed, it may be too late to take action.
For this reason, the patient will normally start a course of prophylactic treatment at once, without waiting for a confirmed diagnosis. If a person develops symptoms of viral encephalitis following an animal bite, they should be treated as if they may have rabies. If a person is bitten or scratched by an animal that may have rabies, or if the animal licks an open wound, the individual should immediately wash any bites and scratches for 15 minutes with soapy water, povidone iodine, or detergent.
This might minimize the number of viral particles. After exposure and before symptoms begin, a series of shots can prevent the virus from thriving.
This is usually effective. A fast-acting dose of rabies immune globulin : Delivered as soon as possible, close to the bite wound, this can prevent the virus from infecting the individual. A series of rabies vaccines : These will be injected into the arm over the next 2 to 4 weeks. These will train the body to fight the virus whenever it finds it. It is not usually possible to find out whether the animal has rabies or not. It is safest to assume the worst and begin the course of shots.
A small number of people have survived rabies, but most cases are fatal once the symptoms develop. There is no effective treatment at this stage. A person with symptoms should be made as comfortable as possible. They may need breathing assistance. Rabies is a serious disease, but individuals and governments can and do take action to control and prevent, and, in some cases, wipe it out completely.
In rural Canada and the U. In Switzerland, the authorities distributed vaccine-laced chicken heads throughout the Swiss Alps. The foxes immunized themselves by consuming the vaccine, and the country is now almost free of rabies. Individuals should follow some safety rules to reduce the chance of contracting rabies. In , a woman died from rabies after being bitten by a bat during the night.
She did not realize she had been bitten. People are encouraged to seek medical help after an encounter with a wild animal, even if they do not have bite marks or other outward signs of injury. Nevertheless, between 30, and 60, people seek rabies postexposure prophylaxis every year, following contact with suspect animals. Hundreds of thousands of animals undergo tests and observation. Between 60 and 70 dogs and around cats are reported rabid each year in the U. Most of these have not been vaccinated, and they were exposed to the virus through wild animals, such as bats.
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