Overview

Rabies is a virus that can be transmitted, through saliva, from an infected mammal to any other mammal, including livestock, pets, wildlife and humans.

Rabies is almost always fatal and an animal will typically die within a few days after signs of rabies appear.

How livestock get rabies

Livestock can get rabies if they:

  • are bitten by a rabid animal
  • get saliva from an infected animal, dead or alive, in an open cut, sore or wound
  • get saliva from an infected animal, dead or alive, in its eyes, mouth or nose

Even a frozen carcass can contain live rabies virus.

Cases of rabies in livestock in Ontario are most commonly reported in bovines (cows, bison and oxen). The last confirmed case of rabies in a bovine was in 2018.

Livestock that aren’t mammals, including fish and poultry, can’t get rabies.

Incubation period

The incubation period is the time between exposure to the rabies virus and when signs of the disease begin to appear. In livestock, usually the signs of rabies will appear less than 20 days after exposure but in some cases it can take months before the signs of rabies appear. The length of the incubation period depends on how the virus got into the animal’s body, the amount of virus that got into the animal’s body, and the strain of rabies the animal was exposed to.

Infection period

If an animal gets infected with the rabies virus, it can transmit the virus to others as soon as the virus gets into its saliva. This can happen up to 2 weeks before the animal starts to show signs of rabies.

Symptoms of rabies

The signs of rabies in livestock can include:

  • behaviour change, either:
    • very aggressive or
    • dull and depressed
  • making strange noises (caused by spasms in the vocal chords)
  • weakness in the hindquarters

Rabies can’t be treated in livestock. Once signs of rabies appear, the animal will die.

Rabies exposure

Animal exposure

If you suspect that your farmed animal may have rabies or see a wild animal on your property that you suspect may have rabies:

  • keep it away from other livestock, pets and humans
  • try to isolate it in a quiet area
  • call your local veterinarian

Human exposure

If you or another person has been in contact with the saliva of the suspect animal and your veterinarian agrees that the animal might have rabies, call your local health unit.

Learn more about rabies in humans.

For veterinarians

If you need help assessing, managing or testing a potentially rabid or exposed pet or livestock, contact the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ Agricultural Information Contact Centre (AICC) at 1-877-421-1300.

If an animal has rabies

If an animal suspected of rabies must be killed for safety reasons, it must be done quickly and humanely by someone who is properly trained. If you need help, contact:

You can also contact the Ontario Fur Managers Federation for non-emergencies in rural areas.

If the animal is found dead or was killed by another animal:

  • do not touch the carcass with your bare hands
  • keep the carcass in a cool place, safely away from people and animals until it’s determined that it needs to be tested
  • call your veterinarian if you suspect the animal had contact with your livestock or pets
  • if it did not have contact with your livestock or pets, call the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s Rabies Information Line at 1-888-574-6656 to find out if the carcass should be tested.

Reducing rabies risk in livestock

You can reduce the risk of rabies in your livestock by:

  • limiting contact between your livestock and wildlife
  • avoiding pasturing livestock in remote areas of your property where contact with wildlife is more likely
  • cleaning up any scrap material or equipment that wildlife might use for shelter or nesting
  • not leaving out food (including pet food), scraps or garbage that could attract scavengers

Learn more about rabies in wildlife.

Vaccinating livestock

As of July 1, 2018, under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, Regulation 567, livestock owners are legally required to have horses, cattle and sheep vaccinated for rabies in Ontario if the animals have been in contact with anyone other than their regular caretakers (e.g. horse competitions, livestock fairs). Consult your veterinarian for more information about rabies vaccination requirements in your specific area. For more information on whether this requirement applies to your animals, contact your local public health unit

 In Canada, all rabies vaccines licensed for livestock protect an animal for one year.

You can discuss vaccinating your other livestock and the costs with your veterinarian.

Learn more about the rules for rabies vaccination in livestock.

Rabies in Ontario

There are two strains of terrestrial rabies in Ontario, fox strain and raccoon strain. Fox strain is most common in livestock, and is most commonly reported in bovines (cows, bison and oxen).

Fox strain rabies was widespread throughout Ontario from 1957 until the late 1980s. In 1989 Ontario launched its largescale rabies control program and was able to reduce the number of fox strain cases in the province by over 99%. In the late 1990s a new strain of rabies was introduced to Ontario, mid-Atlantic raccoon rabies, from the U.S. and was subsequently eliminated from the province in 2005.

In December 2015 rabies was rediscovered in Southern Ontario and the rabies control program resumed its largescale control efforts. MNRF works in partnership with other agencies to control rabies in Ontario. In Ontario the risk of rabies in livestock is low because we:

  • control rabies in wildlife by dropping baits that contain vaccine in urban, forested and rural agricultural areas where rabies cases have recently occurred.
  • vaccinate pets

Wildlife vaccine baits underwent a significant safety review before being licensed by Canadian Food Inspection Agency Canadian Centre for Veterinary Biologics. They are safe if consumed by domestic animals and they are not likely to pose a risk to animals with normal immune systems. If livestock come into contact with the liquid vaccine inside a bait, calling your veterinarian is recommended as a precaution.

Wildlife vaccine baits are not meant for livestock and won’t protect them from rabies. Livestock should continue to be vaccinated by their vets to ensure effective rabies immunization.

Learn more about wildlife vaccine baits

Updated: June 03, 2021
Published: June 01, 2016