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Dr. Chrysoula I. Liakou MD, PhD
- Treated online: Assessment online. A doctor can judge your risk and how urgently you need treatment; rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin are given in person.
- What it is: a virus that attacks the brain and nerves, caught from the bite, scratch or saliva of an infected animal. Once symptoms start, it is almost always fatal.
- First step: wash the wound with soap and running water for at least a quarter of an hour, as soon as you can.
- Treatment: a course of rabies vaccine, usually 4 doses over 2 to 4 weeks, with rabies immunoglobulin for some people, started as soon as possible; it is very effective when it starts quickly.
- Emergency: after a bite or scratch from an animal that could carry rabies, or direct contact with a bat, wash the wound and go to a hospital now; call 112 if you need help.
Do not wait for a video appointment after a bite, a scratch or a lick on broken skin from a dog, cat, monkey or wild animal in a country where rabies is present, or after direct contact with a bat anywhere. Wash the wound with soap and water, then go to the nearest hospital straight away, even if you have had the rabies vaccine before. Call 112 for someone with tingling at an old bite, confusion, agitation, fear of water, or difficulty swallowing or breathing.
Can an online doctor help with rabies?
No, rabies treatment cannot be given online: the rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin are injections, given in person. What a doctor by video can do is go through the animal, the country and the kind of contact, tell you plainly whether you need treatment and how urgently, help you finish a course you started abroad, and advise on the rabies vaccine before travel. A clear exposure in a country with rabies needs a hospital now, not a video call.
How an online consultation helps after a possible rabies exposure
- Your risk assessed: Which animal, which country and what kind of contact decide whether you need treatment.
- Urgency made clear: Whether to go to a hospital now, and what to tell the staff when you get there.
- Courses started abroad: How to finish a vaccine course you started on holiday, and which records to bring.
- Before you travel: Whether a rabies vaccine before your trip makes sense for you, and where to get it.
What the doctor checks in an online rabies assessment
The doctor works through the details that decide the risk. The doctor asks about:
- The animal: a dog, cat, monkey, bat or other wild animal, whether it was a pet or a stray, and how it behaved.
- The place: the country and the area, because rabies risk is very different from one country to the next.
- The contact: a bite, a scratch, a lick, or saliva on broken skin or in the eyes, nose or mouth.
- The wound: whether it bled, how deep it is, and where it is on the body.
- Vaccinations: any rabies vaccine before or after the contact, and your tetanus vaccinations.
- Your health: a weakened immune system, pregnancy, and the medicines you take.
Before the call, note the date, the country and place, the animal and what happened, and gather any vaccination records.
What to do after a possible rabies exposure
Rabies can be prevented after an exposure, but only if treatment starts before symptoms appear. Act straight away:
- Wash the wound with soap and running water for at least a quarter of an hour, as soon as you can.
- Get medical help straight away, even if you have had the rabies vaccine before.
- Expect a course of rabies vaccine, usually 2 or more doses, and for some people rabies immunoglobulin as well.
- Keep a record of every dose, the dates and the product, and finish the course.
Do not wait to see whether symptoms appear: once they start, treatment no longer works.
Which contacts need rabies treatment?
The World Health Organization groups contact with an animal that could carry rabies into three categories:
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| Category | Type of contact | What is needed |
|---|---|---|
| I | Touching or feeding an animal, or a lick on unbroken skin | Wash the skin; no rabies treatment |
| II | Nibbling of uncovered skin, or minor scratches or grazes without bleeding | Wash the wound, and start the vaccine straight away |
| III | Bites or scratches that break the skin, saliva on broken skin or in the eyes, nose or mouth, or direct contact with a bat | Wash the wound, the vaccine, and rabies immunoglobulin or antibodies |
Where is rabies a risk in Europe?
Rabies is found worldwide, and the risk is highest in parts of Asia and Africa, and in Central and South America. Dogs cause up to 99% of human cases worldwide. In Europe, the risk in land animals depends on the country:
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| Risk in land animals | Countries | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| No risk | Most of western, northern and southern Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, mainland Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK | No rabies in land animals; bats can still carry rabies-like viruses |
| Low risk, but foxes are high risk | Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the part of Czechia near the Polish and Slovak borders | Rabies in wild animals such as foxes, not in pets |
| Low risk | Estonia | Rabies in wild animals, not in pets |
| High risk | Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine | Rabies in wild animals and pets |
Bats are a separate risk. They can carry rabies-like viruses even in countries free of rabies in land animals, so any bite or scratch from a bat needs urgent medical advice, wherever it happens.
Is there rabies in the UK?
Not in land animals, and the UK counts as rabies-free. No one has caught rabies from an animal other than a bat in the UK since 1902. Two rabies-like bat viruses have been found in UK bats, one in serotine bats and one in Daubenton’s bats, but none in the pipistrelle, the commonest UK bat. In 2002, a bat handler in Scotland died after catching one of them.
Rabies caught abroad is the real risk for UK residents: by 2023, 26 deaths had been reported in the UK since 1946 in people infected abroad, usually by dog bites. The most recent cases followed a cat bite in Morocco in 2018 and contact with a stray dog in Morocco in 2025.
What are the symptoms of rabies?
Rabies is a virus that attacks the brain and nerves. Symptoms usually start 2 to 3 months after the exposure, but the time can range from about a week to a year. The first symptoms are a high temperature, pain, and unusual tingling, prickling or burning at the site of the wound. The illness then follows one of two courses:
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| Form | How common | What happens | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Furious rabies | About 4 in 5 people | Hyperactivity, excitable behaviour, hallucinations, poor coordination, fear of water and fear of drafts or fresh air | Death after a few days, as the heart and breathing stop |
| Paralytic rabies | About 1 in 5 people | Muscles become paralysed, starting at the wound, then a slowly deepening coma | A longer course, often misdiagnosed |
Rabies kills an estimated 44,000 people each year worldwide, and the true number is likely higher. About 40% of deaths are in children under 15.
Can a human survive rabies?
Almost never, once symptoms have started. The virus causes a progressive inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, and death comes when the breathing muscles are paralysed or the heart and breathing stop. Clinical rabies can be managed but very rarely cured, and never without severe brain damage, so treatment at that stage is supportive and palliative care. Survival depends on treatment before symptoms: prompt treatment after an exposure stops the virus before it reaches the brain.
Which rabies steps might the doctor recommend?
What happens next depends on the contact, the animal and the country. This is the framework the doctors use, in line with WHO and UK guidance:
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| What happened | Likely first step | Suitable for online care? | When in-person care is needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Touching or feeding an animal, or a lick on unbroken skin | Washing the skin; no rabies treatment | Yes | Not needed |
| A graze or nibble without bleeding, where rabies is present | Washing, and the vaccine straight away | Yes, to assess | For the vaccine |
| A bite or scratch that bled, or saliva on broken skin, where rabies is present | Washing, the vaccine and immunoglobulin | No | Go to a hospital now |
| Any bite or scratch from a bat | Washing, and urgent assessment for treatment | No | Go to a hospital now |
| A pet bite in a country with no rabies in land animals | Wound care, antibiotics if needed, a tetanus check | Yes | For deep or heavily bleeding wounds |
| A vaccine course started abroad | Finishing the course on schedule | Yes, to plan | For the remaining doses |
Not sure whether a bite or scratch needs rabies treatment? A doctor can assess your risk in one consultation.
See available times →Rabies treatment after an exposure
What you can do yourself
- Wash the wound straight away with soap and running water, for at least a quarter of an hour.
- Go to a hospital or a vaccination centre without delay, wherever you are.
- Note the animal, the place and the date, and keep the records of every dose you are given.
- Finish the vaccine course, including the doses due after you get home.
Prescription treatment
A prescription is never issued without a consultation. Rabies treatment after an exposure is given in person, at a hospital or a vaccination centre: a course of rabies vaccine, and rabies immunoglobulin into the wound for people who have never had the vaccine or who have a weakened immune system. For the bite itself, the doctor may also prescribe antibiotics and check your tetanus vaccinations. If the doctor prescribes, use the prescription at a pharmacy near you.
What does not help
Waiting for symptoms: once rabies symptoms start, treatment no longer works. Skipping medical help because you had the vaccine before travel: you still need treatment after an exposure. Antibiotics treat infection of the wound, not rabies.
Do you need the rabies vaccine before travelling?
The rabies vaccine before travel is recommended for trips to higher-risk areas, especially if:
- medical help may be hard to reach quickly
- you will be in contact with animals
- you are staying for more than a month
- your work puts you at risk, for example with animals or in a laboratory
Ask a travel health clinic for advice about 8 weeks before you leave. The vaccine before travel does not replace treatment after a bite or scratch, but it makes that treatment simpler: you no longer need rabies immunoglobulin.
How long does the rabies vaccine last?
The course before travel is a short series of injections over about 3 to 4 weeks, and a faster schedule is used when time is short. Protection is long-lived in about 95% of people, so routine boosters are not recommended for most travellers. A single booster can be considered if your course was more than a year ago and you are going to a high-risk area again. People at frequent risk through their work, such as bat handlers, have regular boosters or blood tests to check their protection.
How to avoid rabies when you travel
- Do not touch, feed or pick up dogs, cats, monkeys or wild animals, even if they look friendly.
- Never handle bats, alive or dead.
- Keep food away from animals, and walk away calmly from an animal that seems unwell or aggressive.
Special situations
A bat at home
If you are bitten or scratched by a bat, even in a country without rabies in land animals, wash the wound and get urgent medical advice.
A weakened immune system
You need rabies immunoglobulin as well as the vaccine after an exposure, even if you had the vaccine before travel. Tell the hospital staff about your condition and medicines.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy does not stop rabies treatment after an exposure. Tell the staff that you are pregnant.
Children
Mobi Doctor consultations are for adults aged 18 and over. A child who is unwell needs a paediatrician or a local doctor in person, and emergency signs in a child mean 112.
When rabies risk is assessed online, and when you need in-person care
Assessed online: contacts where the risk is unclear, pet bites in countries with no rabies in land animals, finishing a course started abroad, questions about a treatment course, and the rabies vaccine before travel.
In-person care: every dose of rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin, bites and scratches that broke the skin from an animal that could carry rabies, any bite or scratch from a bat, and deep or heavily bleeding wounds.
When to get in-person care
Call 112 or go to an emergency department now for:
- a bite or scratch that broke the skin from a dog, cat, monkey or wild animal in a country where rabies is present
- saliva from such an animal on broken skin or in the eyes, nose or mouth
- any bite or scratch from a bat
- tingling or pain at an old bite with fever, agitation, confusion, fear of water or difficulty swallowing
Get medical advice the same day for:
- a graze or nibble without bleeding from an animal in a country where rabies is present
- a bite from a pet that is getting red, hot, swollen or painful
- a rabies vaccine course started abroad, with the next dose due
- a deep bite, or a bite on the face or hands, anywhere
How Mobi Doctor works
- Book a time that suits you: daily 7am–11pm CEST. You can see a doctor over video, usually within 15 minutes. No subscription, and the exact price is shown before you pay.
- Speak to a licensed doctor about the contact: say which animal, which country and what happened, show the wound on camera, and have any vaccination records to hand.
- Leave with a plan: whether you need rabies treatment, how urgently and where, and which signs mean you should be seen in person. If the doctor prescribes, use the prescription at a pharmacy near you.
No sign-up needed
Bitten or scratched by an animal? Tick every symptom you have to see each condition page that mentions it. It finds the right page, not a diagnosis: a doctor gives you that on a video call. If you have an emergency sign listed on this page, call 112 instead.
Tap the body — an area or a point — to browse symptoms anywhere
Similar symptoms, different condition? Animal bites can start the same way. Compare them, or look up any other symptom in the full symptom checker.
Frequently asked questions about rabies
What is rabies?
Rabies is a virus that attacks the brain and nerves, caught from the bite, scratch or saliva of an infected animal, most often a dog. Once symptoms start, it is almost always fatal, but prompt treatment after an exposure prevents it.
What should I do if I am bitten by a dog abroad, and what helps most?
Wash the wound with soap and running water for at least a quarter of an hour, then get medical help straight away, even if you have had the rabies vaccine. Treatment works only if it starts before symptoms, so do not wait to see how you feel.
What are the first symptoms of rabies, and when do they start?
The first symptoms of rabies are a high temperature, pain, and unusual tingling, prickling or burning where the wound was, usually 2 to 3 months after the exposure, but anywhere from about a week to a year. Agitation, hallucinations, fear of water or spreading paralysis follow.
Is rabies curable?
Not once symptoms appear: rabies is then almost always fatal, and the very few survivors have severe brain damage. It is preventable: prompt treatment with the vaccine, and sometimes immunoglobulin, after a bite or scratch stops the virus before symptoms start.
Why does rabies make you afraid of water?
Fear of water, called hydrophobia, is a typical sign of furious rabies, the commoner form, together with a fear of drafts or fresh air. It appears once the virus has reached the brain, when the illness can no longer be cured.
Is there rabies in the UK?
Not in land animals: the UK counts as rabies-free. Rabies-like viruses are found in some UK bats, so any bat bite or scratch needs urgent medical advice. UK cases of rabies are caught abroad, usually from dog bites.
Is there rabies in Europe?
Most of western Europe has no rabies in land animals, but it is present in wild animals or pets in parts of eastern and south-eastern Europe, including Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Türkiye. Bats can carry rabies-like viruses anywhere in Europe.
How can I prevent rabies?
Avoid touching dogs, cats, monkeys and bats abroad, however tame they look, and teach children the same; do not feed or approach animals; never handle a bat with bare hands anywhere in Europe; have the pre-travel rabies vaccine course for a stay of a month or more in a high-risk country, for rural areas, or anywhere immunoglobulin is hard to get; and after any bite, scratch or lick on broken skin, wash the wound and get treatment without delay.
Can you get rabies from a scratch or a lick?
Yes. A scratch that breaks the skin, or saliva on broken skin or in the eyes, nose or mouth, can pass on rabies. A lick on unbroken skin does not need treatment.
How long does the rabies vaccine last?
Protection from the full rabies vaccine course before travel is long-lived in about 95% of people, so routine boosters are not recommended for most travellers. A single booster can be considered if the course was more than a year ago and you are going to a high-risk area again.
I had the rabies vaccine before travelling. Do I still need treatment after a bite?
Yes. Wash the wound with soap and water for a quarter of an hour and get medical help straight away, in the country where you are. The rabies vaccine before travel makes the treatment simpler and safer: you need 2 further vaccine doses rather than 4 and no rabies immunoglobulin, which can be hard to find abroad, but it does not replace treatment, because no vaccine course gives certain protection on its own.
Can an online doctor help with rabies?
Yes, with the assessment. A doctor can judge your rabies risk, tell you how urgently you need treatment and where, and advise on the vaccine before travel. The vaccine and immunoglobulin are given in person.
- Rabies: fact sheet, WHO, World Health Organization, 17 September 2026.
- Rabies, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 3 August 2026.
- Rabies risks in terrestrial animals by country, UK Health Security Agency, updated May 2024.
- Rabies, ECDC, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, accessed 15 October 2026.
- Rabies: the green book, chapter 27, UK Health Security Agency, 19 May 2023.
- Rabies: epidemiology, transmission and prevention, UK Health Security Agency, updated 18 June 2025.
- Rabies, TravelHealthPro, National Travel Health Network and Centre (UK), updated 20 June 2025.
- Clinical overview of rabies, CDC, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reviewed 15 July 2025.
This page is for information only and is not a substitute for a medical consultation. Guideline links are provided for transparency; treatment decisions are made with your doctor.
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