for example if you are not sure weather or not this wound is rabies infected and you go to the doctor because it has been years for the wound to cure. will the doctors know that you are infected of rabies when symptoms have not appear. if so how would they do that?

There is no way that rabies takes more than a year to manifest itself with symptoms, Although know that rabies is only treatable BEFORE the symptoms show.

A blood test would show that you had contracted the rabies virus.

If a human became infected with the Rabies virus through organ donation; how long would it be before it becomes obvious that he/she is infected and -if untreated- how long would it take him/her to die?

Roughly, of corse.

• jsosjsjs said,

  Cats can show signs of rabies in about 7 days after contracting it from a bite from a rabid animal. the only way to test an animal for rabies is for it to be killed and have it’s brain examined . But, cats can be kept on "rabies watch" for 10 days to see if they have rabies based on any symptoms.

  Symptoms vary as well as being different during the three stages of the rabies virus. Some animals seem to only have two stages. In brief, at first a cat may have a fever and frequently lick the site of the bite for a day or so. next, in the "furious form", the cat may be very agitated, lose all caution and fear, and be hypersensitive to noise and visual stimuli, including light. There is often aggressive and erratic behavior. the cat may then move on to seizures, then death. Some cats go on to the paralytic, "dumb", third stage, which causes increasing paralysis of the facial muscles, resulting in drooling or foaming at the mouth. Staggering and difficulty walking with the hind legs is sometimes noted. the cat may seem unusually tame along with some other signs. the animal weakens, stops breathing, then dies. This stage usually develops 2-4 days after the first signs of rabies are observed.

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• Kathleen said,

  I don’t know but have they called their vet? if there is a chance of rabies, they’ll want the bat to test it and they may want to quarantine the cat.

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• dressage artist said,

  Tell them to NOT wait for symptoms. They need to take him to a vet IMMEDIATELY. Waiting for signs can cause the cat physical and mental damage if they wait that long. it will be best for the cat, other pets in the vincity and the owners.Don’t wait for symptoms.

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• `riot said,

  It can take anywhere between 2 weeks to 2 years.if the cat was vaccinated for rabies, he should be okay. if he wasn’t vaccinated, I recommend watching the animal for any signs and getting the animal vaccinated.There is only one way to test the animal. that requires the animal’s head to be decapitated and the brain to be observed for rabies.

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DEFINITION
An acute viral infection affecting the nervous system of animals. it can be transmitted to humans by a bite or the exposure of broken skin to the animal’s saliva
CAUSES, INCIDENCE, AND RISK FACTORS
Rabies is transmitted by infected saliva that enters the body by a bite or open wound. the virus travels from the wound along nerve pathways to the brain where it causes inflammation that result in the symptoms of the disease. the incubation period ranges from 10 days to 7 years, with the average period 3 to 7 weeks. in the past human cases usually resulted from a dog bite but most recently cases of human rabies have been linked to rabies virus carried by bats. Bats, skunks, raccoons, foxes, and other animals are other sources of rabies victims. the threat of rabies causes extreme fear on the part of people who think they may have been exposed and health care workers who must contend with possible exposures. in new Hampshire, October of 1994, an unknown number of individuals were exposed to a rabid kitten. because exposure could not be well documented 665 individuals received rabies post-exposure prophylaxis at a cost of $1.5 million. This was an extreme reaction by the public to possible exposure. the Centers for Disease Control is presently making recommendations to help prevent unnecessary treatment in questionably exposed individuals.
PREVENTION
Prevention depends upon enforcement of the following public health policies:
- vaccination of dogs every 2 years where rabies exists in wild animals
- vaccination of people in high-risk occupations
- quarantine regulations on importing dogs and other mammals in disease-free countries
SYMPTOMS
- bite by animal, bug, self or others
- dog bite, bat bite, or bite by a skunk, raccoon, or fox (most common animals to transmit)
- low-grade fever (102 F or lower)
- pain at the site of the bite
- swallowing difficulty (thinking produces spasms of the larynx) or swallowing difficulty with liquids only
- restlessness
- excitability
- muscle spasms
- convulsions
- numbness and tingling
- loss of muscle function
- loss of feeling in an area of the body
- drooling
- anxiety, stress, and tension
- positive Babinski’s reflex
SIGNS AND TESTS
If a person has a history of animal bite, the animal will be observed for signs of rabies. Immuno-fluorescence (fluorescent antibody test) performed on the suspect animal may show that the animal has rabies.
PreventionBecause rabies is almost always fatal, prevention is the only reasonable approach, and all exposures must be evaluated individually. Immunization of household dogs and cats and active immunization of persons with significant animal exposure (e.g., veterinarians) are important. the most important common decisions, however, concern animal bites.In the developing world, education, surveillance, and animal (particularly dog) vaccination programs are preferred over mass destruction of dogs, which is followed typically by invasion of susceptible feral animals into urban areas.Local Treatment of Animal Bites and ScratchesThorough cleansing, debridement, and repeated flushing of wounds with soap and water are important. Rabies immune globulin or antiserum should be given as stated below. Wounds caused by animal bites should not be sutured.Post-exposure ImmunizationTherapy is indicated when the disease is seriously under consideration. the decision to treat should be based on the circumstances of the bite, including the extent and location of the wound, the biting animal, the history of prior vaccination, and the local endemicity of rabies. Any contact or suspect contact with a bat is usually deemed a sufficient indication to warrant prophylaxis. Consultation with state and local health departments is recommended. Post-exposure treatment including both immune globulin and vaccination, should be administered as promptly as possible when indicated.The optimal form of passive immunization is rabies immune globulin (20 IU/kg). As much as possible of the full dose should be infiltrated around the wound, with any remaining injected intramuscularly at a site distant from the wound. if immune globulin (human) is not available, equine rabies antiserum (20–40 IU/kg) can be used if available (it was last produced in 2001) after appropriate tests for horse serum sensitivity. An inactivated human diploid cell rabies vaccine (HDCV) is given as five injections of 1 mL intramuscularly (in the deltoid rather than the gluteal muscle) on days 0, 3, 7, 14, and 28 after exposure.Several cell culture vaccines are available and are preferable to embryonated tissue vaccine (e.g., duck embryo vaccine; DEV) because of better antigenic response and fewer systemic reactions. HDCV availability and cost limit its use in the developing world.Rabies immune globulin and rabies vaccine (HDCV) should never be given in the same syringe or at the same site. Allergic reactions to the vaccine are rare, though local reactions (pruritus, erythema, tenderness) occur in about 25% and mild systemic reactions (headaches, myalgias, nausea) in about 20% of recipients. the vaccine is commercially available or can be obtained through health departments. for patients who previously received preexposure or postexposure vaccine, rabies immune globulin should not be given; vaccine, 1 mL in the deltoid, should be given twice (on days 0 and 3).In other countries, the less costly inactivated DEV or mouse brain vaccine may be available, but the method of administration is more complex, the rate of allergic reactions—including ascending paralysis—is higher, and the efficacy is lower.Exposure to rabies still requires postexposure vaccination, even if preexposure vaccination was received, but the need for immune globulin is eliminated (rabies immune globulin is in short supply worldwide).Neither the passive nor the active form or postexposure prophylaxis is associated with fetal abnormalities and thus pregnancy is not considered a contraindication to vaccination.Preexposure ImmunizationPreexposure prophylaxis with three injections of HDCV intramuscularly (1 mL on days 0, 7, and 21 or 28) or intradermally (0.1 mL on days 0, 7, and 28, over the deltoid) is recommended for persons at high risk of exposure: veterinarians (who should have rabies antibody titers checked every 2 years and be boosted with 1 mL intramuscularly or 0.1 mL intradermally if seronegative); animal handlers; laboratory workers; Peace Corps workers; and travelers to remote areas in endemic countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. An intradermal route is available for preexposure prophylaxis only. Immunosuppressive illnesses and agents including corticosteroids as well as antimalarials—in particular chloroquine—may diminish the antibody response.TreatmentThis very severe illness with an almost universally fatal outcome requires intensive care with attention to the airway, maintenance of oxygenation, and control of seizures. Universal precautions are essential. other modalities of therapy that may be beneficial include a combination of rabies vaccine, rabies immune globulin, monoclonal antibodies (investigational), ribavirin, interferon-, amantadine, and ketamine. Corticosteroids are of no use.EXPECTATIONS (PROGNOSIS)
If immunization is given within 2 days of the bite, rabies is usually prevented. once the symptoms appear, few people survive the disease. Death from respiratory failure usually occurs within 7 days. COMPLICATIONS
- allergic reaction to rabies vaccine (rare)
- death from respiratory failure 
Courtesy:Compiled and Shared By: Habib Anwar 

Rabies suspectedly claimed two lives in Bali on Sunday, with one victim said to have been bitten by a dog as late as two years ago.

The two victims, I Wayan Laut from Klungkung and I Putu Dewen from Bangli, died at RSUP Sanglah hospital, Denpasar. Both were taken there in critical conditions.

The clinical symptoms show that they have been infected with the rabies virus, Ken Wirashandi, the Rabies Problem Tackling secretary in RSUP Sanglah, said Monday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Ken said that the family of I Wayan Laut informed that the latter was bitten by a dog three months ago but was not given any vaccine at that time. Laut began showing clinical rabies symptoms, such as seizures, four days before his death, he said.

Dewen was said to have been bitten by a dog two years ago. a day later the dog died. Dewen too was not treated with vaccine.

Head of the Bali Husbandry Agency Putu Sumantra said that the agency promptly deployed monitoring teams in the field following the incident to prepare for dog vaccinations.

However, he said that he was still waiting for lab tests of the victims blood and saliva samples to confirm rabies was the cause of death.

Sumantra waved off the notion that the incidents served as proof that vaccination programs had failed.

Rabies is a disease humans may get from being bitten by an animal infected with the rabies virus. Rabies has been recognized for over 4,000 years. Yet, despite great advances in diagnosing and preventing it, today rabies is almost always deadly in humans who contract it and do not receive treatment.

Rabies can be totally prevented. you must recognize the exposure and promptly get appropriate medical care before you develop the symptoms of rabies.

Where rabies is found: Human rabies is quite rare in the United States. only 27 cases have been reported in people in the United States since 1990. Yet in some areas of the world (for example, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America), human rabies is much more common.

The incidence of rabies in people parallels the incidence in the animal kingdom. The great strides that have been made in controlling the disease in animals in the United States and in other developed countries is directly responsible for this decline in human rabies.

Although rabies in humans is very rare in the United States, between 16,000 and 39,000 people receive preventive medical treatment each year after being exposed to a potentially rabid animal. some regions of the country have more cases of rabies than others do. Rabies in wildlife accounts for greater than 85% of animal rabies in the United States.

Animals that carry rabies: Raccoons are the most common wild animals infected with rabies in the United States. Skunks, foxes, bats, and coyotes are the other most frequently affected.

Bats are the most common animals responsible for the transmission of human rabies in the United States, accounting for more than half of human cases since 1980, and 74% since 1990. Rabid bats have been reported in all states except Hawaii.

Cats are the most common domestic animals with rabies in the United States. Dogs are the most common domestic rabid animals worldwide. almost any wild or domestic animal can potentially get rabies, but it is very rare in small rodents (rats, squirrels, chipmunks) and lagomorphs (rabbits and hares). Large rodents (beavers, woodchucks/groundhogs) have been found to have rabies in some areas of the United States. Additionally, fish, reptiles, and birds are not known to carry the rabies virus.

For a human to get rabies, 2 things must happen. First, you must have contact with a rabid animal. second, the contact must allow for the transmission of infected material, which will involve exposure to the saliva of the infected animal usually through a bite or scratch.

Contaminated tissue in the rabid animal includes saliva. other potentially infectious tissue is in the brain or nerve tissue. The virus is transmitted only when the virus gets into bite wounds, open cuts in your skin, or onto mucous membranes (for example, into your eyes or your mouth). The virus then spreads from the site of the exposure to your brain and eventually spreads throughout your body’s major organs.

Moreover, bites are the most common source of transmission. Scratches by infected animals are far less likely to cause infection but are still considered a potential source of rabies transmission. Bites or scratches are often not confirmed in cases of human rabies traced to bats. therefore, treatment might be necessary after a close encounter with a bat.

In the 20 cases (since 1990) of human rabies associated with a bat, a definite history of a bat bite could be confirmed in only 1 case. it is unclear how the virus was transmitted in the other cases perhaps by an undetectable bite.

Rabies has rarely been transmitted by other means. Examples include inhaling a large amount of bat secretions in the air of a cave by 2 cave explorers and inhaling the concentrated virus in laboratory workers studying rabies.

Animals infected with rabies may appear sick, crazed, or vicious. this is the origin of the phrase “mad dog.” However, animals infected with rabies may also appear overly friendly, docile, or confused. They may even appear completely normal.

Seeing a normally nocturnal wild animal during the day (for example, a bat or a fox) or seeing a normally shy wild animal that appears strange or even friendly should raise suspicion that the animal may have rabies.

Furthermore, the average incubation period (time from infection to time of development of symptoms) in humans is 30-60 days, but it may range from less than 10 days to several years.

Most people first develop symptoms of pain, tingling, or itching shooting from the bite site (or site of virus entry). Nonspecific complaints of fevers, chills, fatigue, muscle aches, and irritability may accompany these complaints. Early on, these complaints may seem like any virus, except for the shooting sensations from the bite site. Gradually, however, you will become extremely ill, developing a variety of symptoms, including high fever, confusion, agitation, and eventually seizures and coma.

Typically, people with rabies develop irregular contractions and spasms of the breathing muscles when exposed to water (this is termed hydrophobia). They may demonstrate the same response to a puff of air directed at them (termed aerophobia). by this point, they are obviously extremely ill. Eventually, the various organs of the body are affected, and the person dies despite support with medication and a respirator.

A rarer form of rabies, paralytic rabies, has been linked to vampire bat bites outside of the United States. in this form, the person who was bitten develops a paralysis, or inability to move the part of the body that was bitten. this spreads gradually throughout the body, and the person ultimately dies. Hydrophobia is less common in paralytic rabies than in classic rabies.

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