True or False: Birds cannot contract rabies.

• A. True.
• B. False.
• C. Birds can contract rabies under certain conditions.
• D. Only some birds.

Answer: (C)

Rabies mainly affects mammals and is transmitted through bites or saliva from an infected animal. Birds are not natural hosts, and the virus tends to replicate poorly in avian nervous tissue, so rabies in birds is extraordinarily rare. However, it is not absolutely impossible for a bird to become infected under unusual circumstances, such as direct experimental exposure or an extraordinary route of transmission. Because of this, the blanket statement that birds cannot contract rabies isn’t strictly true. In other words, birds can contract rabies under certain conditions, even though it is exceedingly uncommon. In practice, if a bird shows signs of neurologic disease or has had exposure to a known rabid animal, it should be handled with the same precautions and reporting as potential rabies cases in mammals.