Important Facts About Rabies

Rabies is a virus that people usually contract from the saliva injected into their system through the bite of an infected animal. In the U.S., the wild animals most likely to contract rabies are bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes and coyotes, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Time Frame

• Once a human being starts to display the symptoms associated with rabies, it is nearly always too late to prevent death. The virus can take as long as a year before it manifests itself. One documented case took six years to develop. (Ref. 1.)

Potential

• Although rare, it is possible for an animal that has the rabies virus to spread it to a human by licking an open wound.

Types

• Those at highest risk for rabies include people that explore caves where bats may exist, tourists traveling to countries where rabies is more prevalent and members of the scientific community studying the disease.

Warning

• If a nocturnal animal is active during the day, it may have rabies. Aggression toward people and other animals is another warning sign. If a wild animal has no obvious fear of a person, this animal may be infected.

Symptoms

• Rabies symptoms in humans, which normally do not arise until days before the person succumbs to the malady, include headache, fever, excessive salivation, insomnia, difficulty swallowing, confusion, hallucinations and a partial paralysis.