Dear Patient, Please take a deep breath and rest assured that your risk from a scratch that occurred a year ago is virtually zero. The rabies virus is transmitted almost exclusively through infected saliva (typically via bites rather than clean claw scratches), and an animal can only transmit the virus during the final stage of infection—meaning it would have shown obvious neurological signs and died within 10 days of the incident. Furthermore, the vast majority of human rabies cases manifest within 1 to 3 months of exposure, so reaching the one-year mark with no symptoms safely rules this out. The intense physical dread, racing thoughts, and loss of focus you are experiencing right now are classic signs of health anxiety triggered by recent news stories rather than rabies.