BIG is right on this one. They don't test humans for rabies exposure. Having just gone thru this, I feel someone knowledgable - at least on NYS protocol. In mid-February, my dogs were outside (night) in my fenced-in backyard. I heard them barking that bark that said, "Mom, we've got an animal cornered in the yard!" (Yes, I can tell by the way they bark what they are trying to say) Thinking it was my neighbor's cat I flew outside to get the dogs - I knew there was an animal out there because it growled and I thought the dogs must have gotten it in the throat because it didn't sound like a cat - it was much more 'gutteral' and deep in my mind I was thinking it almost hissed like a ferret - my dogs came in covered w/blood - thinking they were scratched to @#&% I quickly washed them off to discover no bites, no cuts. Now I was thinking the cat is in really bad shape. I went outside w/my flashlight going, "here kitty, kitty, kitty......" Then I looked down the street to see a racoon sauntering off into another yard. AAAAHHHHHH!!!!! I had racoon blood all over me. I called 911 and they got me in touch w/the County Health Dept. Since the coon was gone I had no choice but to go thru the rabies vaccination series. In NYS, the County Health Dept pays for anything not covered by insurance - or they pay the whole thing if you don't have any insurance. The series runs about $800. The first vaccination MUST be given (at least in NYS) WITHIN 24 HOURS OF EXPOSURE. The first day I had THREE shots: 2 immunoglobulin shots in the butt (4 cc each) and 1 cc rabies vaccine in the arm. That was on a Monday. Thursday, I had the 2nd shot in the other arm. Following Monday, a shot in 1st arm, 1 wk later (Monday) shot in 2nd arm, 1 wk later - again (Mon) shot in 1st arm - skip 1 wk - 2 wks later (Monday) had last shot. I developed a reaction by the 3 injection. My arm broke out in a rash all over and it itched like crazy. My arm felt like it was going to fall off and my fingers swelled up. Since I could breath (!) they weren't too concerned but I did take lots of Benadryl during this month and I used cold compresses on my arm and that helped considerably. They would not use steroids since that decreases the effective of the vaccine. I have decided to keep up the rabies series. I'm all set for 2 years and then I will only 2 injection a couple weeks apart to keep the immunity. After what I went thru, it would be wasteful not to keep them up. So, bottom line is, if they can't catch the animal and you have a questionable exposure in NYS, you need the rabies series. One more thing, the Health Dept called me each week to be sure that I had kept my appointments!! Debbie Riccio WNYFLFA [Posted in FML issue 1166]