Rabies Exposure: What to do if you have been bitten by/exposed to an animal in a foreign country
I am on holiday overseas and I have been bitten, scratched or licked by an animal. What should I do?
If you have been bitten, scratched, or spat at by any animal/bat abroad or if an animal/bat licks open skin, you should seek urgent medical advice.
- First, immediately wash the wound thoroughly with lots of soap and water for several minutes – this will significantly reduce the risk of any infection. If the eye or mouth have been licked, rinse these with clean water for several minutes.
- Apply a suitable disinfectant to the wound such as 70 percent alcohol or tincture/aqueous solution of povidone-iodine.
- Apply a simple, loose dressing to the wound.
- Having washed the wound, seek immediate medical advice at a local hospital or clinic and tell the doctor what has happened to you.
- You should seek urgent medical advice, even if the wound seems trivial.
- You can check the UKHSA website to see if the country you are visiting is a rabies risk. If the country you are visiting is described as either Low Risk or High Risk for rabies, or if you are not sure, you must seek immediate, urgent medical advice.
- If you had contact with a bat, you should always seek medical advice, irrespective of which country of the world this happened in.
- Even if you have been immunised, always seek local medical advice immediately.
- If the doctors in the country where you had contact with the animal think you need rabies treatment, they will start you on a course of vaccine, and in some circumstances, another type of treatment called Human Rabies Immunoglobulin (HRIG). If you need this type of rabies treatment, it is important that this should be started as soon as possible. Do not wait until you get back to Ireland.
What should I do when I get back to Ireland?
- If you have had contact with an animal or bat in another country and you did not seek treatment, or if you did seek treatment, and were not offered it and you have any concerns, contact your GP for advice when you return to Ireland.
- If you have been started on a course of rabies treatment, when you get back to Ireland, seek medical advice via your GP or local hospital on how to complete your course of rabies treatment. Make sure to keep all documentation you were given in the country in which the incident happened