How to differentiate OCD from real things?

Hey everyone,

About 30 days ago, I made a post here. I have a significant fear of rabies and have developed OCD around it. I often feel overwhelmed being outside or touching wet objects because I worry they might somehow be contaminated with rabies.

In that previous post, I mentioned that while I was outside at night listening to music, I saw something dark pass above my head. Because of my fear of rabies, my mind immediately jumped to the possibility that it was a bat.

I've been trying not to seek reassurance. I did not get a rabies vaccine after that incident, even though I have received rabies vaccinations in the past (the full 5-dose series in 2022 and boosters from 2023 through 2025). I decided to challenge my fears and not get vaccinated because I wasn't even sure a bat had scratched me, or whether there had been a bat there at all.

Now, 32 days later, I have a fever, sore throat, and headache. My mind is once again jumping to rabies, and I'm thinking that maybe I should have gotten vaccinated and that now it's too late.

What is the best way to stop this line of thinking? How can I challenge these thoughts and recover from this OCD pattern?