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Although there is "no risk" for the general public, the victim's family, friends and the medical staff involved are monitored and vaccinated if necessary, said the health agency. .
Rabies, which is almost always fatal when symptoms occur, is an infectious viral disease that affects the brain and the central nervous system. According to PHE, initial symptoms include anxiety, headache and fever, which can progress to hallucinations and respiratory failure.
The virus is transmitted to humans through bites or scratches and can take from three to 12 weeks for symptoms to appear.
In the UK, no human has been rabid – other than bats – for over 100 years, PHE said, adding that the disease does not circulate in wild or domestic animals in the wild. the country.
However, five Britons contracted animal rabies between 2000 and 2017.
PHE used the incident to remind residents of the risks associated with a trip abroad.
"If you are bitten, scratched or licked by an animal, you should wash the wound or the exposure site with soapy water and consult a doctor immediately."
If treated quickly after being exposed to a rabid animal, a series of vaccines is "extremely effective in preventing the disease," the agency said.
Geoffrey Smith, head of the department of pathology at the University of Cambridge, said that rabies is one of the few diseases on which a vaccine can be effective after an infection.
"But it depends on how quickly that is done and where the patient is bitten," Smith said.
"After a foot stitch, there is more time to vaccinate before the virus reaches the brain by traveling through the nerve cells, rather than if a person is stung at the nape of the neck."
Rabies is present in more than 150 countries and territories around the world.
Smith from the University of Cambridge also explained that it's not just dogs and cats that can be carriers of rabies.
"Virtually all mammals can be infected with rabies virus and a large reservoir is reserved for bats," he said.
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