They’re underselling rabies. Might as well say it’s always fatal.
Got bit by a mouse on my wedding night. I was drunk and decided to fish him out of a trash can, by hand. Yeah. Little fucker drew blood, I was pretty worried the next morning. Good news! Small rodents almost never have rabies and don’t transmit to humans.
I also looked up the Florida counties where my home and camp are, both pretty wild places. Long story short, I’m not worried a bit, though I do keep an eye on animals I see. The country animals are so shy I would be plenty alarmed if one so much as watched me up close.
Rabies is the scariest shit ever. You only know if you have it when you are already fucked. Horrific.
As usual, the bit about Lyme disease just mentions a few ways you might be fine, and not how fucked you can be by one of the long term uncureable versions. We wouldn’t want to inconvenience the insurance industry by raising awareness.