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Rabies
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    Rabies Information for Specific Groups

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    Travelers

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    Rabies is found on all continents except Antarctica. In most countries, the risk of rabies in an encounter with an animal and the precautions necessary to prevent rabies are the same as they are in the United States. When traveling, it is always prudent to avoid approaching any wild or domestic animal.

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    Veterinarians

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    Veterinarians and their staff play an important public health role by monitoring rabies in their community. In addition to vaccinating client animals, they are frequently the primary source of rabies information for their clients.

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    Healthcare Providers

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    One to three people die in the United States every year from rabies, usually due to exposures to indigenous rabid bats, skunks, foxes, or raccoons, or to exposure to rabid dogs while traveling overseas. For this reason, it is important that rabies be considered in all cases of unexplained encephalitis. Rabies is nearly always fatal once symptoms appear, but it can be prevented almost 100% of the time when postexposure prophylaxis including rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin is administered soon after a rabies exposure occurs.

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    Diagnostic Laboratories

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    Testing for rabies in animals is done postmortem and may be necessary to determine the rabies exposure risk to humans. Samples requiring confirmation, variant typing, or formalin-fixed tissues may be sent to the CDC for additional diagnostic testing.

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    Page last reviewed: June 11, 2019
    Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology (DHCPP)
    homeRabies Homepage
    • What is rabies?
    • Animals and rabiesplus icon
      • Bats and rabies
    • Transmissionplus icon
      • Path of the virus
    • When to seek careplus icon
      • What kind of animal did you come in contact with?plus icon
        • Domestic Animals
        • Exotic Pet Species
        • Bats
        • Other wild animals
        • Wildlife reservoirs for rabies
      • What type of exposure occurred?
      • Is the animal available for testing?
    • Preventionplus icon
      • Prevention in pets
      • Preventing exposure in people
      • Postexposure prophylaxisplus icon
        • Human rabies immune globulin
        • Rabies vaccine
        • Programs for uninsured and underinsured patients
      • Pre-exposure prophylaxis
    • Signs and symptoms
    • Diagnosisplus icon
      • Diagnosis in animals and humans
      • Direct fluorescent antibody test
      • Histologic examination
      • Immunohistochemistry
      • Electron microscopy
      • Amplification methods
      • Accuracy of the tests
      • Regulation of diagnostic test kits
    • Rabies in the U.S. and around the worldplus icon
      • Rabies in the U.S.plus icon
        • Cost of Rabies Prevention
        • Is Rabies in your State?plus icon
          • Wild Animal Surveillance
          • Domestic Animal Surveillance
          • Human rabies surveillance
      • Rabies around the World
      • Rabies Status: Assessment by Country
    • Information for specific groupsplus icon
      • Travelersplus icon
        • What if I receive treatment outside the United States?
      • Veterinariansplus icon
        • What to do with an animal that has bitten a person
        • Caring for animals with potential exposure
        • Clinical signs of rabies in animals
        • Vaccines
        • Vaccination
        • Testing
        • Rabies in manmade or natural disasters
      • Healthcare Providersplus icon
        • Exposure in healthcare settings
        • Rabies biologics
        • Precautions or contraindications for rabies vaccination
        • Adverse reaction
        • Rabies serology
        • Ante mortem testing
        • Management of human rabies
      • Diagnostic laboratories
    • State and local rabies consultation contacts
    • Resourcesplus icon
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      • News
      • Specimen Submission
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    Events
    • Rabies in the Americasexternal
    • World Rabies Day
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