According to the data recorded by the World Health Organization, the longest incubation period for humans after being bitten by a dog is six years.
Dog and cat bites are the main cause of rabies, a zoonotic infectious disease, because dogs and cats are susceptible to the rabies virus; if they are bitten by a dog or cat that carries the rabies virus, the virus will invade the organism through the wound, leading to rabies virus infection.
It takes a certain amount of time for the rabies virus to develop, and this time is known as the incubation period. The incubation period faced by each individual infected with the rabies virus is somewhat different; the incubation period for human infection with the rabies virus is generally three to eight weeks, and the longest incubation period recorded by the WHO is six years.
If an individual is infected with rabies virus, after the incubation period, rabies will develop, and once the disease develops, the mortality rate is almost 100%; therefore, if an individual is bitten by a dog, he or she should be vaccinated against rabies in a timely manner.