Question: another silly rabies question:

I was grilling dinner outside tonight. when we were finished with dinner a noticed a cat licking on the serving plates we left out side. I didn't touch the plate. I took a towel and picked up the spatula and tongs and out them in the sink with hot water and soap. After I put them down I may have grabbed the towel by the side I used to pick them up. My question is:

1, if the cat licked them to (I didn't see it) then I I picked them up with a towel could rabies transmit from the tongs to the towel and then my hand (with a small cut ) could that kind of in direct exposure lead to infection- So the vector would be cat licked tongs, saliva got on towel, saliva from towel got on my hand and into a cut aprox 24 hours old with a scab on top.

2. Could my wife get something from grabbing the towel or touching the tongs after they have been dipped in soapy water.

One more question what if the cat got into my utensils while I was walking in and out of the house. Could it have gotten from the spatulas to the food. I don't think it did because I didn't see it until after dinner was over

So if the cat licked the spatula or tongs it couldn't have gotten on the food when I was taking it off the grill. Like I said we didn't see it until after dinner but it might have been sneaky

One follow up question animal control gave me a wire trap to catch the cat.

It got out of the trap after eating half the food. I guess it was the cat the trap was sprung and empty when I got home.

I reset the trap with a gloved hand. After I finished I took the glove off with my bare hand and washed it with a hose, the pressure was high and it bounced off my hands and hit my face.

Could contaminated salvia from the metal trap get on my glove, the on my hand when I took it off, the the water hit my in the eyes carting the rabies virus with it into my eyes


so I guess the transmission would be be:

Some animal was in the trap (don't know what) they got out.

There saliva was on the cage from biting at the cage trying to get out

the time frame could have been between 3 hours and 15 minutes

So it was _metal trap to Glove to hand- then water splashed it in eye while I was washing my hands.-- Could a virus even survive this many vectors and till be infectious?

Thanks and last question

one final question could the virus live 15 minutes out side the animal