how do animals get rabies

Animals get rabies when the rabies virus in an infected animal’s saliva enters their body, almost always through a bite that breaks the skin. The virus then travels through the nerves to the brain, causing a fatal infection if the animal is not vaccinated and not treated in time.

Quick Scoop: How Animals Get Rabies

• The rabies virus lives in the saliva and nervous system tissue (like brain and spinal cord) of an infected mammal.

• Infection usually happens when a rabid animal bites another animal, pushing virus‑filled saliva deep into a wound.

• Less commonly, saliva from a rabid animal getting into an open cut, scratch, or into the eyes, nose, or mouth can also transmit rabies.

• The virus cannot go through unbroken, healthy skin, so casual contact or being near an animal is not enough for infection.

Common Ways Animals Get Infected

• Fights between animals (dogs, cats, wild animals) where bites are exchanged.

• Pets roaming outdoors and encountering rabid wildlife such as bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes, or coyotes.

• Cats and dogs that are not vaccinated and allowed outside are at especially high risk in areas where wildlife rabies is present.

Once infected, the virus slowly moves along nerves from the bite site to the brain; when it reaches the brain and then the salivary glands, the animal becomes contagious and can spread rabies to others.

Which Animals Usually Spread Rabies?

• Any mammal can get and spread rabies (animals that produce milk and nurse their young).

• In the U.S. and Canada, rabies is mostly in wild animals: bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes, and sometimes woodchucks.

• In many parts of Africa and Asia, unvaccinated dogs are still the main source of rabies infections in both animals and humans.

Example

A stray raccoon infected with rabies bites an outdoor cat during a nighttime fight. The virus in the raccoon’s saliva enters through the bite wounds, incubates silently for weeks or months, travels to the cat’s brain, and eventually makes the cat sick and contagious.

Key Prevention Points

• Keep pets (dogs, cats, ferrets) vaccinated against rabies as recommended by your veterinarian.

• Do not let pets roam freely where they can fight with or be bitten by wild animals.

• Avoid contact with wild animals, especially ones acting strangely tame, aggressive, or sick.

• If an animal is bitten or scratched by a wild or unknown animal, contact a veterinarian right away; they can assess the risk and take urgent steps.

Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear, but it is highly preventable through vaccination and quick action after an exposure.

TL;DR: Animals get rabies when saliva from a rabid mammal—usually through a bite—gets into a break in their skin or mucous membranes; vaccination and avoiding wildlife contact are the best protections.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.