Rabies and Horses Rabies and Horses Drs. Bob Wright and Jocelyn Jansen, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Fergus, Ontario, Canada Material may not be changed without the permission of the authors.
Rabies affects both animals and humans.
It persists in Ontario wildlife, primarily in the red fox and striped skunk. All warm-blooded animals can be infected with rabies but it is most often transmitted in Canada by foxes, raccoons, skunks and bats. Variation in susceptibility is noticeable. The virus is almost always spread by saliva from the bite of an infected animal. The disease persists in wildlife populations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and other parts of the world.