Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis inflammation of the brain in warm-blooded animals including human being. this virus transmitted thru animals, most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. Rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms.

incubation period

The rabies incubation period is the length of time between infection with the rabies virus and the onset of symptoms. while the incubation period for rabies may vary from a few days to several years, it usually lasts one to three months. during the rabies incubation period, a bite from the infected animal does not carry a risk of rabies because the virus is not yet in the saliva.

Rabies vaccine

Rabies can be prevented by vaccination, both in humans and other animals, most of the time-domestic dogs, cats and ferrets want to be vaccinated for safety. Imrab is an example of a veterinary rabies vaccine containing the Pasteur strain of killed rabies virus. several different types of Imrab exist, including Imrab, Imrab 3, and Imrab Large Animal. Imrab 3 has been approved for ferrets.

Symptoms of rabies

The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death. the early symptoms of rabies in people are similar to that of many other illnesses, including fever, headache, and general weakness or discomfort. As the disease progresses, more specific symptoms appear and may include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation, hyper salivation (increase in saliva), difficulty swallowing, and hydrophobia (fear of water). Death usually occurs within days of the onset of these symptoms.

The rabies virus travels to the brain by following the peripheral nerves. the incubation period of the disease is usually a few months in humans, depending on the distance the virus must travel to reach the central nervous system. Once the rabies virus reaches the central nervous system and symptoms begin to show, the infection is effectively untreatable and usually fatal within days.

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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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