UP Villages Panic Over Rabies From Milk: Experts Debunk Transmission Fears

• Panic gripped Budaun and Gorakhpur villages after residents consumed milk from animals suspected of rabies, leading to mass anti-rabies vaccinations.
• A buffalo in Budaun and a cow in Gorakhpur, whose milk was consumed, later died showing rabies-like symptoms, sparking widespread fear.
• Experts from NCDC, WHO, and US CDC confirm rabies is a neurotropic virus, not transmitted through milk as it doesn't enter mammary glands.
• Boiling milk completely destroys the rabies virus; even raw milk transmission is considered theoretically possible but unproven, with no confirmed human cases.
• Rabies primarily spreads through infected animal saliva via bites or scratches, not through milk, cooked food, or pasteurised dairy products.

Why It Matters: Rabies is not transmitted through milk, especially boiled milk; experts confirm no human cases from milk consumption.