Rabies post-exposure treatment: what to do after an animal bite abroad
If a mammal has bitten, scratched or licked broken skin in a country where rabies occurs, the answer is the same whether it was a street dog, a temple monkey or a bat: flush the wound under running water for several minutes, wash it with soap, apply antiseptic, leave it open and get to a doctor today. That is the start of post-exposure treatment, and it works when it is started promptly. Do not wait to see how the animal behaves, and do not wait until you are back in the UK.
Medically reviewed by Muhammad Adnan, Superintendent Pharmacist (GPhC 2073652) · based on NHS, UKHSA and NaTHNaC (TravelHealthPro) guidance · last reviewed September 2026.
Why is a small bite treated as an emergency?
Because the timing is everything. Rabies attacks the nervous system, and once symptoms begin it is almost always fatal. Before symptoms begin, the picture flips completely: the NHS describes post-exposure treatment given quickly as usually very effective. So a scratch that would be trivial in Trafford becomes a same-day medical problem in rural India, Thailand, Morocco or Peru. The wound itself is rarely the issue. What matters is the saliva that came with it.
Children need particular watching. TravelHealthPro notes that roughly 40 percent of people bitten by suspected rabid animals are under 15, and that children are often bitten around the face or head. Ask them directly, every day, whether an animal touched them.
Which animal contacts count as a rabies exposure?
Any bite or scratch from a mammal, or saliva reaching broken skin or the eyes, nose or mouth, in a country where rabies is present. Three situations catch travellers out again and again:
Street dogs
Dogs cause the great majority of human rabies worldwide. Runners, cyclists and anyone walking back to a hostel at night are the usual targets. A dog that seems calm and friendly can still be shedding virus in its saliva. Never assume a collar means a vaccinated animal.
Temple and beach monkeys
Macaques at temples, forts and beaches are used to tourists and quick to snatch food, sunglasses or a hand. TravelHealthPro found monkeys behind a quarter of possible exposures reported by travellers, more still among tourists in South East Asia. A monkey nip is a rabies exposure until a clinician says otherwise.
Bats, anywhere
Bats carry lyssaviruses that cause an illness indistinguishable from rabies, and that includes bats in countries otherwise free of the disease. The UK is one of them: a rabies-like virus is found in some British bats, and the NHS says to get medical help immediately after a bat bite or scratch here at home.
Cats, foxes, raccoons and other mammals are on the list too. The rule of thumb from both the NHS and TravelHealthPro is simple: an animal that looks well and behaves normally can still be infectious, so the animal's appearance tells you nothing useful.
What should I do in the first few minutes?
The wound-washing step is not a token gesture before the real treatment. Rinsing and washing lifts infected saliva out of the wound, which is why UK guidance puts it first. In order:
- Flush under a running tap for several minutes. Bottled water poured steadily will do if there is no tap. Keep going longer than feels necessary.
- Wash thoroughly with soap or detergent. The aim is to lift saliva out of the wound, so work the soap in gently rather than scrubbing the tissue raw.
- Apply an antiseptic. TravelHealthPro names 70 percent alcohol or povidone-iodine. A pharmacy in any tourist town will have one of them.
- Leave the wound open. Cover it with a clean dry dressing, but do not have it stitched. Closing the wound is postponed until post-exposure treatment has started.
- Get medical help the same day. A hospital or clinic in the country you are in, not the one at home. Ask your travel insurer for the nearest facility that stocks rabies vaccine.
- Write everything down. The animal, the country, the date, and the name and batch of anything injected. Photograph the vaccine box and the clinic paperwork.
Get assessed in person — every time. Any possible rabies exposure should be assessed at a hospital or other medical facility. A detailed wound and individual risk assessment is still needed in every case — even if you have been vaccinated and even if the wound looks minor. This page is general guidance, not a substitute for that in-person assessment.
What does rabies post-exposure treatment actually involve?
Two things, and which of them you need depends on your vaccination history. The first is a course of rabies vaccine spread over a few weeks, which teaches your immune system to make its own antibodies. The second is rabies immunoglobulin: borrowed antibodies, given into and around the wound, that hold the virus in check during the days before the vaccine takes effect. The exact number of doses and their timing are set by the treating clinician under UKHSA guidance, so we deliberately do not print a schedule here.
You had the pre-travel course
- A short top-up course of vaccine, and that is usually the whole treatment; the exact number of doses is set by the clinician who assesses you.
- No immunoglobulin for someone with a normal immune system.
- Vaccine is far easier to find than immunoglobulin, so the clinic you reach is much more likely to have what you need.
- Carry your vaccination record; it is the proof that unlocks this simpler route.
You were never vaccinated
- A full course of vaccine over several weeks, with the first dose as soon as possible.
- For higher-risk exposures, rabies immunoglobulin as well, and it is only useful early on.
- Finding immunoglobulin may mean a long journey to a capital city, or a flight to another country.
- Whatever was started abroad must be finished on time once you are home.
If your immune system is weakened
The green column assumes a normal immune response. If you take medicines that suppress immunity, are having treatment such as chemotherapy, or live with a condition that weakens your defences, the NHS notes that immunoglobulin may still be needed after an exposure even though you were vaccinated, and the vaccine course may be longer. Please tell us about any condition or medication that affects your immune system before you travel, so we can advise you properly.
Why is immunoglobulin the hard part?
Rabies immunoglobulin is a blood product, and most of the world does not hold enough of it. TravelHealthPro quotes a study in which 204 of 240 countries had limited or no access. That is not a footnote for an unvaccinated traveller bitten in the Gobi, on a Malawian lakeshore or in the hills of northern Thailand. It means the single most time-critical element of their treatment may not exist within a day's travel.
- Human immunoglobulin is in short supply worldwide, and in many countries it is simply not available.
- Where stocks exist, reaching them can mean a long journey to a major city, or crossing into another country.
- Ring your travel insurer's emergency assistance line early — they can help you locate a facility that actually holds rabies vaccine or immunoglobulin, and confirm what is covered.
- In the UK, rabies immunoglobulin is not something every clinic keeps on a shelf: it is supplied through UKHSA's Rabies and Immunoglobulin Service after the treating clinician has done a risk assessment.
This is the real argument for the pre-travel course. A short course of injections before you leave Timperley takes immunoglobulin off the list in most circumstances, shortens the treatment to a brief top-up course, and turns a frightening hunt across a foreign country into a routine visit to the nearest clinic. Read more on our pre-travel rabies vaccine page.
I was bitten abroad and I'm now home in Manchester. What next?
Contact your GP or NHS 111 promptly, and say in the first sentence that you had an animal bite in a rabies-risk country. If the wound is large, deep or still bleeding, go to A&E instead. The NHS specifically asks people treated abroad to see their GP on return so the course can be checked and finished. In England the specialist advice and supplies for post-exposure treatment come through UKHSA, and the NHS clinician makes that contact for you.
- Take every document from the overseas clinic, plus your photos of the vaccine boxes, so the dates and products can be matched.
- Take your pre-travel vaccination record too, if you had the course, because it changes what you need.
- Do not let the remaining doses drift. The gaps between them are part of the treatment.
- If you had nothing abroad, the same applies: ring NHS 111 or your GP today rather than putting it down to experience.
Travellers from Altrincham, Sale, Hale and the rest of Trafford are covered by the same NHS pathway as everywhere else in England. There is no need to go looking for a specialist unit; your GP or 111 makes that contact for you.
Do I need a tetanus check and wound care as well?
Rabies is the headline risk, but a bite is also a dirty puncture wound. Animal bites are treated as tetanus-prone, so whoever assesses you should ask when your last tetanus dose was. The NHS advice for any bite is to call 111 if it has been more than 10 years since your last tetanus vaccine, or if the bite is on the hands, feet, face or head. Antibiotics are sometimes prescribed to stop a bite becoming infected. Our tetanus vaccine page covers keeping your booster up to date before you travel.
Signs the bite is infected
- Hot, swollen or increasingly painful
- Red or darker than the surrounding skin (harder to see on black or brown skin)
- Fluid or pus leaking from the wound
- An unpleasant smell
- A high temperature or feeling generally unwell
What a clinician will do
- Clean the wound properly and remove any dirt or damaged tissue
- Check your tetanus and rabies risk and start treatment for either if needed
- Decide whether antibiotics are warranted
- Decide when, if at all, the wound can be closed
Please note we do not provide post-injury tetanus treatment — for that you should attend A&E or a local emergency service.
Where does a Timperley travel clinic fit in?
Honestly, mostly before you go. Post-exposure treatment runs through hospitals and the NHS, with the vaccine and immunoglobulin supplied through UKHSA's specialist service, and no high-street pharmacy changes that. What we can do is make the after-bite pathway short and boring: a pre-exposure course, a record card you can show to any doctor in the world, and a proper conversation about the animals you are actually likely to meet on your route. If you are already home and unsure whether something counts, ring NHS 111 first. You are also welcome to phone us on +44 161 948 5066 for plain advice on what to say when you do.
We are at 250 Stockport Road in Timperley, two Metrolink stops from Altrincham, open seven days a week with free parking, and we see walk-ins and same-day appointments from across Manchester, Trafford and Cheshire. If your flight is close, our guide to last-minute travel vaccines explains what can still be done in a week or two, and you can contact the clinic with a quick question first.
Rabies FAQ
After a bite abroad — your questions answered
Important: This page is general information based on NHS, UKHSA (UK Health Security Agency) and NaTHNaC (TravelHealthPro) guidance and is not a substitute for medical advice. Rabies post-exposure treatment is always risk-assessed individually. After any possible exposure, wash the wound immediately and seek urgent medical advice. Sources: NHS: rabies · NHS: animal and human bites · TravelHealthPro rabies factsheet · UKHSA rabies guidance · UKHSA: administration of rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin · UKHSA: Rabies and Immunoglobulin Service (RIgS). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Heading somewhere with street dogs, monkeys or caves?
Get the pre-exposure rabies vaccine at our Timperley clinic, near Manchester — so that if you are ever bitten, treatment abroad is usually just a short top-up of vaccine, with no hard-to-find immunoglobulin needed for most people. Best booked 4–6 weeks before you go.
We do not provide rabies post-exposure treatment. If you have already been bitten, scratched or licked, wash the wound now and contact NHS 111, your GP or A&E — or, if you are still abroad, the nearest hospital. The booking below is for the pre-travel rabies vaccine only.