Dog bites and rabies shots in Syria: what to do and where to go

Rabies occurs in Syria, and the number of people seeking care after animal bites is rising. The good news is that treatment exists and costs nothing: rabies vaccine and serum are given free at centres approved by the Ministry of Health. The rule fits in one sentence: after a bite or scratch, wash the wound and get seen the same day. This page is not medical advice; the doctor who sees the wound decides what treatment you need. Vaccines and general health preparation are on the health page.

What to do in the first minutes

Wash the wound straight away with plenty of soap and water for 15 minutes. The time matters; a quick rinse is not enough. Then disinfect it. Do not cover it with a dressing and do not have it stitched: that is the first-aid order given by the head of a rabies clinic that follows the Ministry of Health protocol.

Then go to the nearest health centre or a hospital emergency department. On the way, note what the animal was — a stray or one with a known owner — and where it happened. The doctor will ask.

How is the wound assessed?

Clinics treat a bite in three grades:

• Licks or contact on intact skin, with no bleeding: washing only
• Scratches without real bleeding: vaccine
• Bleeding wounds: vaccine and serum together

The serum is rabies immunoglobulin; unlike the vaccine, it supplies ready-made antibodies. The doctor decides the grade, not you, so do not skip the visit because the wound looks small.

Where are the vaccine and serum, and are they free?

According to the Ministry of Health, rabies vaccine and serum are free at all approved health centres and hospitals. The ministry warns against any charge “under any pretext” and has set up a QR-code complaints system at its centres. The rabies vaccine is also on the list of free emergency services the ministry published in August 2026.

Free does not mean every door has it. In rural provinces the vaccine and serum may be held at a single hospital. One province’s rabies clinic works inside a hospital emergency department and is open 24 hours, holidays included, but its head says the vaccine is not available anywhere else in that province. So go to the nearest health centre and ask there where the rabies clinic is.

The vaccine is not one injection but a series of doses a few days apart. At that clinic the schedule is one dose on the first day, the second 3 days later and the last 7 days later. Your doctor sets the schedule; ask for a written note of which dose you had on which day. If you leave the country before the course is finished, take that note to a doctor at home for the remaining doses.

How real is the risk?

The figures come from the ministry. In the first half of 2026, 7415 people went to health centres after a bite or scratch; about 7000 were given the vaccine and about 2000 the serum. One death clinically suspected to be rabies was recorded in the same period. Visits are rising: 2444 in the first quarter of 2025 and 3977 in the first quarter of 2026. One province’s rabies clinic had seen 208 cases by the end of July, most of them children.

The country has no local laboratory capacity to confirm rabies, so diagnosis rests on clinical signs. Once symptoms begin there is no treatment and the disease is fatal. What decides the outcome is starting treatment in time. On 12 September 2025 in Kobani, a child bitten by a street dog died after treatment came late; the same-day rule exists because of cases like this.

Owned animals and street animals

If the animal has a known owner and can be observed, things can change. Ministry data show that some people who did not receive treatment were cases where the animal proved healthy under veterinary observation. That call belongs to the doctor and the vet together; do not skip the visit because the animal looks healthy.

For street animals the ministry has started a trap, vaccinate, neuter and release programme, but complaints about stray dogs still come from many places. The precautions are simple: do not touch street dogs or cats, do not feed them by hand, and do not run past a group of dogs. Keep children close and do not let them play alone away from home; children stand out among bite cases.

Before you travel

If you will spend a long time in the countryside or work with animals, talk to your doctor about rabies vaccination before the trip; the health page lists it among the vaccines discussed for some travellers. Being vaccinated in advance does not remove the need to get seen after a bite, but it makes later treatment simpler. Save your insurer’s emergency line too: even with free treatment, travelling to another city or leaving the country early may come up.