Rabies is a virus. Like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, once symptoms of the virus appear the disease is fatal. Unlike HIV, the rabies virus can be transmitted through contact with saliva of an infected human or animal. HIV cannot live outside the body, but the rabies virus has been documented as being transmitted from air, drinking cups, toothbrushes, food, cigarettes and other modes. However, there is a pre-exposure and post-exposure vaccine available for rabies, originally developed by Louis Pasteur. Yet, with rabies vaccinations the key word is TIME. Time is critical in rabies cases because of the nature of the virus. Once symptoms appear, approximately a month after infection, the disease is fatal. What is difficult to control about rabies vaccination is the pathway of the virus once it enters the body. In cases of HIV, the blood has produced antibodies which are detectable long before symptoms develop. The case is not the same with rabies, an acute, contagious infection of the central nervous system because it does not travel in the bloodstream, “Since the virus moves through the body inside nerve tissue rather than the blood, the disease triggers no antibodies and can’t be detected during its incubation. Once it reaches the brain, death is virtually inevitable” (Linden 58). This analysis will discuss the effects of rabies on behavior, animal versus human rabies, symptoms of rabies, the history of rabies and rabies vaccines. A conclusion will address the types of precautions available to lower the risk of contracting a disease that is often fatal if not detected early.
Rabies is typically caused by a bite from an infected animal. While any warm-blooded animal is capable of contracting the virus, bats, foxes, skunks, raccoons, dogs and cats seem to be most susceptible. Bats are the most frequent transmitters of the virus to humans, “The CDC reports that since 1990…74% of...