Rabies

Rabies is an acute, fatal encephalomyelitis caused by neurotropic viruses in the family Rhabdoviridae, genus Lyssavirus, almost always transmitted by an animal bite that inoculates the virus into wounds.

Rabies is found on all continents, except Antarctica. In certain areas of the world, canine rabies remains highly endemic, including (but not limited to) parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. The disease is also found in dogs in most of the other countries of Africa, Asia, and Central and South America.

Manifestation: The incubation period may vary from a few days to several years, but is typically 1 to 3 months. The disease progresses from a non-specific prodromal phase to

Paresis or paralysis
Spasms of swallowing muscles
Delirium
Convulsion
Coma
Death

Diagnose and treatment: Virus is demonstrated in saliva, serum, spinal fluid, and skin biopsies of hair follicles at the nape of the neck. There is no treatment for rabies after symptoms of the disease appear. However, two decades ago scientists developed an extremely effective new rabies vaccine regimen that provides immunity to rabies when administered after an exposure. Only 15 % of patients infected will develop rabies. Treatment can also be with purified equine rabies immune globulin (ERIG) has been used effectively in developing countries where human rabies immune globulin (RIG) might not have been available.

Vaccination: rabies vaccine may be recommended for international travellers based on the local incidence of rabies in the country to be visited.

Prevent rabies by:

Vaccination

Rabies Resource:

Rabies and canine distemper virus epidemics in the red fox population of northern Italy (2006-2010).

PLoS One

Examining the differences in format and characteristics of zoonotic virus surveillance data on state agency websites.

J Med Internet Res

Discrepancies in data reporting for rabies, Africa.

Emerg Infect Dis

Favourable outcome in a patient bitten by a rabid bat infected with the European bat lyssavirus-1.

Acta Clin Belg

Secretion of truncated recombinant rabies virus glycoprotein with preserved antigenic properties using a co-expression system in Hansenula polymorpha.

J Microbiol

Acute viral encephalitis.

Handb Clin Neurol

Official batch control of rabies veterinary vaccines: current situation and perspectives in the European Union.

Altern Lab Anim

Examining dog owners' beliefs regarding rabies vaccination during government-funded vaccine clinics in Grenada to improve vaccine coverage rates.

Prev Vet Med

Unilateral cerebellar hypoplasia and mesencephalic malformation in a Hanoverian foal.

Tierarztl Prax Ausg G Grosstiere Nutztiere

Importance of rabies virus nucleoprotein in viral evasion of interferon response in the brain.

Microbiol Immunol

The introduction of fox rabies into Italy (2008-2011) was due to two viral genetic groups with distinct phylogeographic patterns.

Infect Genet Evol

Control and prevention of canine rabies: The need for building laboratory-based surveillance capacity.

Antiviral Res

Humoral immune response to oral rabies vaccination in raccoon kits: Problems and implications.

Vaccine

Spatial accessibility to vaccination sites in a campaign against rabies in São Paulo city, Brazil.

Prev Vet Med

Human rabies: neuropathogenesis, diagnosis, and management.

Lancet Neurol

Virus infections in the nervous system.

Cell Host Microbe

Evaluation of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of deer owners following identification of a cluster of captive deer with rabies in Pennsylvania in July 2010.

J Am Vet Med Assoc

Assessing the rabies control and surveillance systems in Brazil: An experience of measures toward bats after the halt of massive vaccination of dogs and cats in Campinas, Sao Paulo.

Prev Vet Med

The present and future of rabies vaccine in animals.

Clin Exp Vaccine Res

Genetic diversity and geographic distribution of genetically distinct rabies viruses in the Philippines.

PLoS Negl Trop Dis

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