In the United States, rabies deaths are very rare thanks to successful animal control and vaccination programs. But around the world, rabies kills more than 59,000 people every year. The most affected countries are in Africa and Asia, and almost half of the victims are children under the age of 15.

Rabies infection is caused by the rabies virus. The virus is spread through the saliva of infected animals. Infected animals can spread the virus by biting another animal or a person. In rare cases, rabies can be spread when infected saliva gets into an open wound or the mucous membranes, such as the mouth or eyes.

The rabies virus is found in the nervous tissue of infected mammals. As the virus works its way to the brain, it begins to be secreted in the saliva of the animal. People and mammals get rabies when infectious saliva is introduced into the body, usually through a bite from an infected animal.

The earliest record of a disease affecting humans with signs and symptoms consistent with rabies (including an association with dog bites) is found in the Eshnunna cuneiform law tablets from ancient Mesopotamia, Middle East, dating back to the 18th-19th centuries BC (Fales, 2010).

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that a small dot wound by a healthy puppy is no risk for rabies.

How Long Can the Rabies Virus Survive? The virus cannot live outside of the body for more than a couple of seconds, which is good news. Live virus, however, can be found in deceased animals for as long as 48 hours.

Rabies is not contagious from person to person. The virus most often spreads through bites from an infected animal.

It’s transmitted through the saliva a few days before death when the animal “sheds” the virus. Rabies is not transmitted through the blood, urine or feces of an infected animal, nor is it spread airborne through the open environment.