Typically, people contract rabies when they are bitten by a domestic mammal or pet that has acquired rabies from a rabid wild mammal. Vaccinating dogs and cats prevents them from acquiring the disease from other wildlife, and thereby transmitting the disease to humans. It is also possible, but quite rare, to get rabies if infectious material from a rabid mammal, such as saliva, has contact with a person’s eyes, nose, mouth or wound. The virus may also be introduced into a scratch or in fresh breaks in the skin. Airborne spread in a cave with millions of bats have occurred, although rarely. Organ transplant (corneal) taken from person dying of diagnosed central nervous system disease have resulted in rabies in the recipients.
