The last locally acquired case of “classical” rabies in the UK was in 1902 , and the most recent human rabies cases involving UK residents have all been imported from abroad , with one of the latest being a British traveller who died after an animal exposure in Morocco in 2025.

Quick scoop: UK rabies situation

  • The UK is officially considered rabies-free for classical dog-type rabies in humans and terrestrial animals, with no homegrown human case since 1902.
  • All modern human rabies cases linked to the UK have involved people who were infected overseas , then became ill and died after returning to the UK (for example, cases in 2012, 2018 and 2025 following dog or cat bites/scratches in India and Morocco).
  • Because of strict pet import rules and vaccination requirements, there is no ongoing spread of classical rabies within the UK animal population.

Recent “last cases” in practice

If by “last case of rabies in the UK” you mean the latest fatal rabies illness in a UK resident :

  • A British traveller died in 2025 after being scratched by a stray puppy in Morocco; the infection was acquired abroad but the illness and death were recorded in the UK.
  • Before that, other imported cases included:
    • 2018 – a UK case after a cat scratch in Morocco.
* **2012** – a case after a dog bite in India.

If you mean the last case caught inside the UK (not imported):

  • The last infection from indigenous, classical rabies in the UK was in 1922 in an animal, and the last human death from rabies caught in the UK was in 1902.

What about bats and “rabies-like” viruses?

  • The UK does have a rabies-related virus (European bat lyssavirus type 2, EBLV‑2) in a small number of bats, not in dogs, cats or livestock.
  • There has been one fatal human infection in the UK from this bat-associated virus, but these events are exceptionally rare and very tightly monitored.

Should people in the UK worry?

  • For everyday life in the UK (walking your dog, visiting parks, etc.), the risk of catching rabies is effectively zero because classical rabies is not circulating in UK pets or wildlife.
  • The real risk is for travellers to countries where rabies is common in dogs and other animals, which is why:
    • Pre-exposure vaccination is advised for some trips.
    • Any bite or scratch abroad from a mammal (dog, cat, monkey, bat, etc.) is treated as urgent and should be washed thoroughly and assessed by a medical professional for possible post-exposure vaccination.

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