So just how serious is a dog bite—and will you get rabies? Rabies may be the first disease you think of when you hear the words “dog bite,” but it's a fairly uncommon outcome. You can get rabies from a dog only if it's already infected with the disease, and if its saliva gets into your body.

Do I need a rabies shot if a dog bit me?

Do you need a rabies shot? If you're bitten by a dog that shows signs of rabies, such as acting erratically or foaming at the mouth, you should get a rabies vaccine. Rabies is a potentially fatal condition, which is 100 percent preventable when immediate medical treatment is received.

How common is rabies from a dog bite?

People are usually infected following a deep bite or scratch from an animal with rabies, and transmission to humans by rabid dogs accounts for up to 99% of cases. In the Americas, bats are now the major source of human rabies deaths as dog-mediated transmission has mostly been broken in this region.