Adapted Directly from the CDC web site
by Bay County Health Department

Rabies is a serious disease that is caused by a virus.  Each year it kills more than 50,000 people and millions of animals around the world.

Any mammal can get rabies.  Mammals are animals that are warm-blooded and have hair or fur.  Raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats are the animals most often infected with rabies, but rabies can also affect dogs, cats, wolves, coyotes, ferrets, farm animals, and humans.  Animals that are not mammals -- such as birds, snakes, and fish -- do not get rabies.

Rabies is caused by a virus.  Animal and humans get rabies from saliva (spit) of an animal that has the disease.  Usually the exposure happens when a person or animal is bitten by a rabid animal.  The disease can be also passed on if the saliva of a rabid animal gets into the eyes, mouth, nose, or open wound of an animal or person.

Animals with rabies may act differently from healthy animals.  Wild animals may move slowly or may act as if they are tame.  A pet that is usually friendly may snap at you or may try to bite.  Some signs of rabies in animals are: 

• changes in behavior
• general sickness
• problems swallowing
• increased drooling
• aggression 

Yes!  Rabies can be prevented by rabies vaccine and thorough cleansing of the wound.  If you are bitten by an animal that could have rabies, clean the bite wound with soap and water right away and go to the Emergency Room, Health Department, or your own healthcare provider.

If the animal that bit you can be identified, it will either be sent for rabies testing (wild animal) or put in quarantine (cats, dogs, farm animals, ferrets).  Animals in quarantine are watched for at least ten days to make sure they don’t have rabies.

If the animal can’t be found or the animal is found to have rabies, the person exposed to the animal may need to be vaccinated.  This rabies vaccination is given as a series of shots spaced over a month.  Two or three types of medication are given the first day of shots, and then one small shot in the arm is given on the 3rd, 7th, 14th, and 28th day of treatment.  Rabies shots are no longer given in the belly.

• Vaccinate your dogs, cats, and ferrets against rabies.
• Keep your pets under supervision.
• Do not handle wild animals.  If you see a wild animal or a stray, especially if the animal is acting strangely, call an animal control officer.
• If you do get bitten by an animal, wash the wound with soap and water for at least 5 minutes.  Call your doctor or the Health Department or go to the Emergency Room to see if you need shots.
• Get your pets spayed or neutered.  Pets that are fixed are less likely to leave home, become strays, and make more stray animals.