Dog rabies vaccination programs in developing countries have not always been successful as in the United States. Any mammal can get rabies. The most common wild reservoirs of rabies are raccoons, skunks, bats, foxes, and coyotes. Domestic mammals can also get rabies. Cats, cattle, and dogs are the most frequently reported rabid domestic animals in the United States.
People usually get rabies from the bite of a rabid animal.
It is also possible that people may get rabies if infectious material from a rabid animal, such as saliva, gets directly into their eyes, nose, mouth, or a wound. Non-bite exposures to rabies are rare. Scratches, abrasions, open wounds, or mucous membranes contaminated with saliva or other potentially infectious material from a rabid animal constitute non-bite exposures. Other contact, such as petting a rabid animal or contact with the blood, urine or feces of a rabid animal, does not constitute an exposure. In most countries, the risk of rabies and the precautions for preventing rabies are the same as they are in the United States.