Objective To understand the situation of people exposed to animal bitting and the effect of vaccination with rabies vaccine. Methods A total of 40 032 patients with suspected rabies who were injured by animals from 2015 to 2017 were analyzed for characteristics, exposure level, exposure location and exposure time of the exposed population. 2 844 patients were treated generally and blood samples were collected from people who received rabies vaccine during the whole course. The rabies antibody was detected by ELASA method. Results Among 40 032 cases of rabies exposure, 20 180 cases were male, accounting for 50.41 %, 19 852 cases were female, accounting for 49.59 %, and 11 169 cases were children aged 0~10 years, accounting for 27.90 % of the total exposed population. From May to August, 18 101 people were injured, accounting for 45.22 % of the total exposed population. The wound site mainly consisted of 20,616 upper limbs, accounting for 51.50 %. There were 24 300 cases of the class II exposed population, accounting for 60.70 %. All the exposed patients were correctly treated with rabies vaccine throughout the whole course. The positive rate of rabies virus antibody was 96.87 % in 14 to 21 days after the rabies vaccine was given to 2,844 patients in the whole course. All vaccinators did not have rabies. Conclusion May to August is the season of frequent rabies exposure, and children aged 0~10 years are the main exposed population. The exposed parts were mainly upper limbs. Timely and correct disposal after exposure can effectively prevent the occurrence of rabies.