Can I get rabies in any way other than an animal bite?
Non-bite exposures to rabies are very rare. Scratches, abrasions, open wounds, or mucous membranes contaminated with saliva or other potentially infectious material (such as brain tissue) from a rabid animal cons ute non-bite exposures. Occasionally reports of non-bite exposure are such that postexposure prophylaxis is given.
Inhalation of aerosolized rabies virus is also a potential non-bite route of exposure, but other than laboratory workers, most people are unlikely to encounter an aerosol of rabies virus.
Other contact, such as petting a rabid animal or contact with the blood, urine or feces (e.g., guano) of a rabid animal, does not cons ute an exposure and is not an indication for prophylaxis.
But from the CDC paper cited below:
Nonbite exposures. Nonbite exposures from animals very rarely cause rabies. However, occasional reports of nonbite transmission suggest that such exposures require assessment to determine if sufficient reasons exist to consider postexposure prophylaxis (104).
The nonbite exposures of highest risk appear to be among surgical recipients of corneas, solid organs, and vascular tissue transplanted from patients who died of rabies and persons exposed to large amounts of aerosolized rabies virus. Two cases of rabies have been attributed to probable aerosol exposures in laboratories, and two cases of rabies have been attributed to possible airborne exposures in caves containing millions of free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) in the Southwest. However, alternative infection routes can not be discounted (105--109). Similar airborne incidents have not occurred in approximately 25 years, probably because of elevated awareness of such risks resulting in increased use of appropriate preventive measures.
The contamination of open wounds or abrasions (including scratches) or mucous membranes with saliva or other potentially infectious material (e.g., neural tissue) from a rabid animal also cons utes a nonbite exposure.
Rabies virus is inactivated by desiccation, ultraviolet irradiation, and other factors and does not persist in the environment. In general, if the suspect material is dry, the virus can be considered noninfectious. Nonbite exposures other than organ or tissue transplants have almost never been proven to cause rabies, and postexposure prophylaxis is not indicated unless the nonbite exposure met the definition of saliva or other potentially infectious material being introduced into fresh, open cuts in skin or onto mucous membranes.
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