Description of Rabies

Rabies is a disease that causes inflammation of the brain in warm-blooded animals. It's usually transmitted by the bite of an infected animal and is almost invariably fatal if left untreated.

Cause

• Rabies is caused by viruses in the Lyssavirus genus. Once it infects the body, it travels rapidly into the central nervous system and into the brain. The salivary glands of an infected individual contain high concentrations of the virus.

Symptoms

• A patient infected with rabies usually exhibits flu-like symptoms within two to 12 weeks, although the incubation period may require up to two years. Rabies is almost always fatal within 10 days of the onset of the symptoms.

Diagnosis

• A presumptive diagnosis of rabies requires multiple tests on blood, saliva and spinal fluid samples. A definitive diagnosis is normally performed post-mortem, since it requires brain tissue.

Prevention

• A pre-exposure immunization for humans has been available since 1967. A vaccine called V-RG has been used since 1987 to prevent wildlife outbreaks of rabies.

Treatments

• The treatment for rabies in the United States is a single dose of human rabies immunoglobulin, followed by four rabies vaccines over the next 14 days.