That's why it's so important to see a doctor if a person gets bitten by an animal. This is especially important if bitten by a wild animal, such as a squirrel or a bat. But any mammal can get rabies, including household pets, such as dogs, cats, and even ferrets. Household pets can get a rabies vaccine to protect them and their owners. Animals who are not mammals, such as birds, fish, turtles, and snakes, cannot carry rabies.
An animal infected with rabies carries the virus in its saliva, so if it bites a person, the virus has a way into the person's body. It's possible to get rabies from an animal scratch, too. People sometimes describe animals that have rabies as "foaming at the mouth." This happens because the animal's nerves no longer work properly and it can't swallow its own saliva.
- Wash the wound with soap and water for 10 minutes.
- Call your doctor or the hospital emergency department.
- Give a description of the animal that bit you to your local animal control office so they can try to find the animal and test it for rabies. Your mom or dad can help you do this.
- What kind of animal bit you?
- How did the animal act? (Rabid animals may look and act strangely.)
- How do you feel now?
If a rabid animal bites someone, the disease will not develop right away. That's because there's an incubation period (say: in-kyuh-bay-shun) with rabies. That means there's a period of time between getting bitten and experiencing symptoms of rabies. With rabies, the incubation period may be a few days to several weeks or even a lot longer.
But doctors don't wait around when it comes to rabies. If there's a chance the person was bitten by a rabid animal, the doctor can give the person several shots to prevent the disease. Every year, about 40,000 people in the United States get these injections as a precaution. Shots are never fun, but they're much better than getting a deadly disease.
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