Care hurt his left big toe joint in the warmup loss to Wales last Saturday, and will have surgery on Thursday.
Recovery is expected to take a minimum of six weeks, which rules Care out of the 30-man World Cup squad which is to be announced on Monday.
“Absolutely devastated about my injury but in the best hands for my op tomorrow. Wish the lads all the best to hopefully win the world cup!!” tweeted the Harlequins players with 32 international caps.
The injury will come as a blow to England, as Care’s performance was one of the few positives that emerged from their 19-9 defeat in Cardiff.
“We are all hugely disappointed for Danny, who has worked extremely hard and has been an important part of the squad.” said England manager Martin Johnson. “Nobody wants to see a player ruled out at this stage through injury and we all wish Danny a speedy recovery.”
Ben Youngs, Joe Simpson and Richard Wigglesworth remain as the three scrumhalf options in the squad.
