Not all animal bites require preventive rabies interventions, but medical advice should be sought immediately if the bite arises from an animal showing signs of rabies or from an animal in a rabies-endemic country. Where the biting animal appears healthy and normal, the bite was provoked, and the animal has received up-to-date high-quality vaccine (with appropriate documentation), post-exposure prophylaxis is not necessary.

Human rabies is almost invariably fatal once clinical symptoms occur. There is currently no effective treatment available anywhere in the world for rabies patients who already show clinical signs of the disease.