Wild animals and even your beloved pets can infect you with rabies, a disease that is nearly 100% fatal
Name
Rabies
Transmission
- A disease caused by the rabies virus
- The virus is most often transmitted through the bite of an infected animal when the infected animal saliva enters the human body
- Domestic dogs are the most common carriers of the virus, with more than 95% of human deaths caused by dog-mediated rabies
- Human-to-human transmission is not possible
Geography
Worldwide (in 150 countries and on every continent except Antarctica)
Incubation Period
The incubation period varies widely as people have been reported to have incubation periods of 5 days to several years
Signs and Symptoms
There are two stages of the disease. Once the second phase of symptoms begin to show, the disease is almost always fatal. There have only been 10 cases where the patient survived the second phase
Phase One
- Weakness
- Fever
- General discomfort
- Itching at the site of the infected bite
Phase Two
- Delirium
- Insomnia
- Confusion
- Excitation
- Hallucinations
- Fear of water
- Paralysis
- Agitation
- Increase in saliva
- Difficulty swallowing
Diagnosis
- To diagnose rabies in animals, the animals must be euthanized and tissue samples must be taken from two areas of the brain for laboratory testing
- There is no single test to diagnose rabies in humans, several tests must be done
- Lab tests on samples of saliva, serum, spinal fluid, and skin biopsies of hair follicles can help with the diagnosis
Treatment
- There is no specific treatment
- When treatment begins before symptoms progress, a series of injections are available to prevent the virus from infecting the body:
- A fast-acting rabies immune globulin injection is given near the area where the animal bite occurred
- A series of 4 vaccines over 14 days to help the body learn to identify and fight the virus
- When the patient is already showing symptoms, there is no treatment other than to keep the person comfortable and treat any complications that arise
Prognosis
- Without treatment, rabies is almost 100% fatal within a few days of symptoms appearing
Prevention: What Can You Do?
- The disease is preventable with the vaccine for dogs and other animals as well as the human vaccine
Rabies In the News
Sources:
http://www.who.int/rabies/en/
http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/index.html