I got bit by a boxer (dog), rabies a chance?

Question

While walking the sidewalk, I crossed paths with a lady and her boxer, and her boxer bit my arm. Its a fairly small bite (only 3 teeth marks) and I was wearing a jacket which was not punctured. Since the jacket wasn't punctured (or atleast i don't see any holds), I don't think any infection could be passed on from the dog such as rabies or the sort. So um... is it possible to be infected with anything if say my jacket was not punctured through at all?

It did puncture my skin. I was wearing a thin soft shell jacket though and i don't see any bite marks that punctured my jacket, but it may be small enough to miss. It is black so its a bit harder to see if there was a small one which i don't see.

Answer 1

There is always that chance. Report it to your Public Health Dept., and see a Dr. soon. You don't know if the dog has been vaccinated for rabies, and you don't need to take that chance. A small scratch with the teeth could infect you if the dog would have rabies.Now, SEE A DOCTOR!

Answer 2

Ok - here's the quick and dirty. Any contact with saliva introduces the possibility to transmit rabies. If its a larger / deeper bite, you will receive a large dose of virus and may become ill faster, but even small bites pose a risk. The first thing to do is wash the wound for several minutes with lots of soap and water. If this was a stray dog, you should call animal control or the police and see if they cannot locate the dog for testing. If the dog is a pet (owned by an individual) you should contact animal control and have them verify that the dog's rabies vacccination is current. If the vaccine is current your risk is minimal. If the dog is not vaccinated they will quarantine the dog for 10 days. It may take months for symptoms to develop, but rabies can only be transmitted once an animal is clinically sick. Animal control will observe the dog for 10 days. If the dog remains healthy, you're fine. If the dog becomes ill, it will be tested, and if rabid, you will be put on treatment - no longer massive injections into your stomach. You also want to watch for fever, redness, swelling. Animal bites can easily become infected. If the wound appears infected you'll need to seek treatment (irregardless of the rabies issues)

Answer 3

I'm really sorry that you've been bitten by a dog. Ouch! Sounds painful. Anyways about the rabies problem.

First off when we think of rabies, we think of dogs. The dog would've showed the MAJOR symptoms of rabies:

-Foaming at the mouth
-Acting crazy and wild, jumping, growling, barking, etc
-Fever
-Loss of appetite
-Change in dogs bark

Once infection occurs, the rabies virus grows in muscle tissue and may go undetected for several days or months. During this incubation (or latent) period, the animal appears healthy and shows no sign of infection. Usually within 1 to 3 months, the virus migrates to the nerves near the site of the infection and spreads to the spinal cord and brain (i.e., the central nervous system). It usually takes from 12 to 180 days to spread through the peripheral nerves to the central nervous system. At this point, the disease progresses rapidly, and the animal begins to show the classic behavioral signs of rabies. The virus spreads to the saliva, tears, breast milk, and urine. The animal usually dies in 4 or 5 days.

However, you cannot specifically tell if a dog has rabies, the dog must be dead in order to detect the virus in them as the body needs to be examined.

In this case it really doesn't sound serious, and it's not like the dog was a stray. The dog was with it's owner. So I highly doubt it'd be anything serious.

Unvaccinated people should receive postexposure treatment within 48 hours. Each year in the United States, 40,000 people receive postexposure treatment, which involves immediate cleansing of the wound and injection of human rabies immune globulin into the wound site and one other site (e.g., the buttocks). At the same time, a series of five injections of vaccine are administered. The local public health official should also be notified.

Glad I could help.

Answer 4

A very large percentage of pet dogs are now inoculated against rabies, so the odds of a family pet becoming infected with rabies after being vaccinated is almost zero. Even if a dog is not vaccinated against rabies, it is unlikely that the dog would come into contact with infected wildlife, and even more unlikely to spread it to humans. The chances of acquiring rabies in North America from a random dog bite like the one you described is probably about one in 100 million. There are only one or two human deaths from rabies in the United States every year. In North America, most human deaths from rabies are from bat bites, not dog bites. Of course, the situation is very different in other, less developed countries, like China, where hundreds of people die from rabies every year.

Answer 5

I don't think you can get rabies form a dog if the skin was not punctured, but call your local hospital to verify that and if you know where the animal lives call your local animal control so they can quarantine the dog to make sure.So the dog does not bite someone else, however boxers are know to be playful and jump and kind of bit a people not intending to hurt them. I have a boxer and she will run and jump at people when she is playing

Answer 6

I would say anything is quite possible. From what you said it seems VERY unlikely because with rabies they must puncture the skin! However, I don't think this is the best solution. I think you should go to a doctor and talk to them and tell them the situation. They will probably give you a rabies shot just to be sure! I would do this if it was me...UI wouldn't feel like risking my life just because I didn't think it happened.

All the best, Amanda

Answer 7

If your skin was broken you have a chance of contracting rabies. It is unlikely but, possible. Do you have the name of the women whose dog bit you? You need to report it to animal control. They can check to see if the dog has had it's shots or quarantine the dog as necessary. Good luck to you.

Answer 8

I would say rabies is unlikely. To be safe you should get checked out at the ER (your family doctor doesn't keep rabies shots because the expiration date runs out too quickly and they don't use them enough to keep it around) If anything you would need to watch for an infection called cellulitis. That is very common with dog and cat bites. It should be reported to the police and the public health (they keep track of all animal bites). Good luck.

Answer 9

Among domestic dogs in the United States rabies is virtually unkown. Other infections, however, may easily be transmitted - although if the skin was not punctured - there is no risk of infection.

Answer 10

They only way for u to get rabies is if the dog had rabies and honestly she wouldnt be walking it around if it had rabies, so it is almost likley u will be ok