USDA NVAP Global Health Practice Test 2025 – Complete Exam Prep

The most common mode of inoculation in rabies transmission is through bite wounds from infected animals. Rabies is primarily spread through the saliva of infected mammals, and the bites provide a direct route for the virus to enter the bloodstream of the host. Once the virus enters the body, it can travel along peripheral nerves to the central nervous system, leading to the disease's characteristic severe neurological symptoms.

While other forms of exposure, such as saliva exposure from scratches, can also lead to transmission, the rate and likelihood of transmission through bites are significantly higher due to the direct introduction of the virus into the body. Contact with contaminated soil or consumption of infected meat are not recognized as relevant routes of rabies transmission, as the virus does not survive outside of its mammalian hosts in a viable form for transmission through these means. Therefore, the bite wound from an infected animal is the primary method of rabies inoculation.