Can You Get Rabies From Milk Of A Rabid Animal? What Experts Say As Panic Hits A UP Village

Last Updated:December 29, 2025, 4:28 PM IST

Villagers in UP’s Budaun rushed for rabies vaccinations after a buffalo’s death raised fears about contaminated milk. The science tells a different story.

A fresh wave of fear has swept through a village in Uttar Pradesh after nearly 200 residents of Budaun district’s Piprauli village rushed to a community health centre demanding anti-rabies vaccinations. None of them had been bitten by a dog, but anxiety surged when a buffalo whose milk was used to prepare raita for a funeral feast on 23 December died days later after reportedly showing symptoms consistent with rabies.

Health officials kept the centre open through the weekend to reassure residents, emphasising that the risk of rabies transmission through boiled milk is extremely low.

The incident has revived a recurring question: whether the milk of an infected animal can cause rabies when consumed.

This is not the first such scare this season. Similar panic broke out in Gorakhpur a month earlier.

What Exactly Happened In Gorakhpur?

The Gorakhpur scare originated in Ramdeeh village of Uruva block, where milk from a cow that had been bitten by a stray dog three months earlier was unknowingly used for community religious events.

On 29 October, a Shivcharcha programme was held at the home of Sunil Gaur. After the prayers, villagers were served charanamrit. The milk used at this event came from the cow of Dharmendra Gaur, whose animal had been bitten earlier.

The second event occurred on 2 November, when a Ram Katha was organised at the home of Sonu Vishwakarma. Again, charanamrit was distributed, and a little milk from every household was collected for preparing it. And because milk from Dharmendra’s cow was part of this collection, it again became part of the preparation.

At the time, the cow appeared normal. About a week after these events, its health suddenly deteriorated. When the owner, Dharmendra Gaur, brought the cow to a government veterinary hospital, doctors observed signs consistent with rabies. The cow died on 15 November.

Once villagers learnt that the cow whose milk had been used in both religious gatherings had died of suspected rabies, panic spread quickly in Ramdeeh. People who had taken charanamrit at either event began fearing exposure. Large groups went to the Uruva Primary Health Centre seeking anti-rabies vaccination. According to the village head and attending doctors, more than 170 residents received their first dose of the vaccine as a precaution.

The incident remained contained, and no illness was reported, but the rapid spread of fear mirrored what would unfold weeks later in Budaun.

Does The Rabies Virus Actually Pass Into The Milk Of Infected Cattle?

Scientific studies over several decades have consistently shown that rabies behaves very differently from infections that spread through blood, meat or bodily fluids. Rabies is a neurotropic virus, meaning it primarily travels along nerves, not through the bloodstream. This is why the virus concentrates in the brain and salivary glands of an infected animal rather than circulating through organs such as the udder.

Because of this biological behaviour, multiple public-health agencies agree that the virus does not naturally enter the mammary glands, where milk is produced.

India’s National Centre for Disease Control states that there is no laboratory or epidemiological evidence showing that rabies is transmitted through the consumption of milk or milk products. Its guidance makes it clear that drinking milk from an infected animal does not require treatment.

The World Health Organisation notes that the rabies virus has never been isolated from the milk of a rabid cow and that no human rabies case has been attributed to drinking raw milk.

The US CDC has described transmission through unpasteurised milk as theoretically possible, but even in the incidents it reviewed, no human infection occurred. It also emphasises that boiling or pasteurisation eliminates the risk completely.

In both the Gorakhpur and Budaun incidents, doctors explained this to residents and reassured them that boiled milk does not carry a risk of rabies. The concern in such situations comes not from the milk itself but from the possibility that a visibly sick or drooling animal’s saliva may have come in contact with the milk during milking. That scenario relates to saliva exposure rather than milk transmission.

It is the reason doctors sometimes recommend what is known as post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, which is simply the standard rabies vaccination course given after a potential exposure.

Why Does The US CDC Say Raw-Milk Transmission Is Theoretically Possible?

The caution traces back to two episodes documented in Massachusetts in 1996 and 1998, when dozens of people drank unpasteurised milk from cows later found to have rabies. Because rabies is almost universally fatal once symptomatic, authorities opted to vaccinate all exposed individuals. The milk was never tested, and no human rabies cases emerged.

In its assessment, the CDC stated that transmission through unpasteurised milk was theoretically possible but added that pasteurisation eliminates the risk entirely.

In India, milk is routinely boiled before consumption. This heating process destroys the rabies virus, which is structurally fragile. Internal medicine specialists have observed that even raw milk is unlikely to transmit the virus because stomach acid further degrades it.

How Does Rabies Actually Spread?

Rabies spreads through the saliva of infected animals entering the body through bites, scratches or contact with broken skin or mucous membranes. Once in the body, the virus travels along nerves to the brain. It does not spread through cooked food, boiled milk or pasteurised dairy products. No confirmed human transmission has ever occurred through these routes, and neither WHO nor NCDC advises vaccination for individuals who have only consumed milk.

So, Can Rabies Spread Through Cow’s Milk?

All available evidence points to the same conclusion. No recorded human case worldwide has been traced to drinking milk from a rabid animal. Rabies virus has not been isolated from the milk of infected cattle. Boiling eliminates the virus entirely, and even unboiled milk has not been linked to transmission. Awareness of how rabies truly spreads is essential to prevent fear-driven reactions.

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