Can dolphins get rabies?

Question

Can dolphins get rabies?

Answer 1

Rabies is a Mammal-Specific Disease though research regarding this exact subject is really hardly touched, as rabid dolphins would pose much less a threat to human beings than a land animal, like say a raccoon.

In either case, as most mammals (with the exclusion of whales and dolphins) are terrestrial, so it is unlikely dolphins are to get infected, as it would require them to either;

a) be bitten by a Mammal (ie. a rabid dog swim into the water and bite one and ensure its DNA goes into the dolphins bloodstream and therefore travel to its brain)

b) eat a rabid animal, which is also unlikely, as dolphin prey on fish.

As well, even if a dolphin had contracted their reaction to the Rabies virus is relatively unknown. for example, a dog will die of rabies within a few weeks or days, whereas an animal like a bat could remain a carrier with no real repercussions to its life. It's a strange virus really..

good question though! I wonder how you came up with it?