Excretion of street rabies virus in saliva of cats.

DURING THE PERIOD from 1938 to 1960, an annual average of 372 cases of rabies of the domestic cat were reported in the US.1,2 With the population of cats estimated at 25,768,000 in 1960,3it is reasonable to assume that a number of physicians will have to decide whether or not to administer anti-rabies treatment to a person who has come in direct contact with a cat. The physician must first weigh the evidence for true exposure to rabies against the risk known to be associated with conventional prophylactic treatment.4-8The likelihood of exposure should be determined by considering two important questions: (1) was the saliva of the cat in contact with freshly abraded or lacerated skin? and (2) did the saliva of the cat at the time of "exposure" contain virus? When animals are subsequently proven to be rabid, one cannot conclude in every