A reservist picked up a dog in the north: 22 people are undergoing preventive treatment for rabies

A reservist serving near the northern border picked up a dog abandoned in the area and brought it home while on leave. Two weeks later, the dog attacked him, after which it turned out that it had rabies. 22 people came into contact with the dog, including the reservist’s five-year-old daughter, his wife, veterinarians, neighbors and co-workers.

According to Walla, an epidemiological investigation carried out by the veterinary service of the Ministry of Agriculture revealed that both the reservist himself and the person to whom he then gave the dog lied about its real origin: the reservist said that he found it in a field in Ra’anana.

He also claimed that the animal had no contact with other military personnel, while it turned out that he was carrying three colleagues in his car, who picked up the dog with him and continued with it on a long trip to the center of the country.

The veterinary service emphasized that those involved “do not understand the significance of contact with an animal confirmed to have rabies, and the gravity of the situation.” They warned that withholding information or refusing to tell the truth makes it difficult to identify all those in contact, and this “could end in disaster” because rabies is incurable and fatal.

Since the beginning of the year, 45 cases of rabies have already been identified in Israel – this is a record figure, indicating a continuing increase in the incidence. Since 2000, the annual average has been 32 cases, with 103 cases reported in 2025. Most of the episodes are recorded in the north of the country, but there are fears that the disease will spread further south – including after dogs with rabies were discovered in Modi’in, Rosh HaAyin, and Kfar Saba.