Rabies

[PussyCat]

A contagious and fatal viral disease of dogs and other mammals, transmissible through the saliva to humans and causing madness and convulsions.

[Dave Paprocki]

Rabies is a viral infection of the brain that is transmitted by animals and that causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. Once the virus reaches the spinal cord and brain, rabies is almost always fatal.

The virus is usually transmitted when people are bitten by an infected animal, usually a bat in the United States or a dog in countries where dogs are not routinely vaccinated against rabies.
Rabies can cause restlessness and confusion or paralysis.
A skin biopsy can detect the virus.
Infection can be prevented by immediately cleaning the wound and by injecting rabies vaccine and immune globulin .

(See also Overview of Brain Infections.)
The virus is transmitted in the saliva of an infected animal. From the point of entry (usually a bite), the rabies virus travels along nerves to the spinal cord and then to the brain, where it multiplies. From there, it travels along other nerves to the salivary glands and into the saliva. Once the rabies virus reaches the spinal cord and brain, rabies is almost always fatal. However, the virus typically takes at least 10 days—usually 30 to 50 days—to reach the brain (how long depends on the bite’s location). During that interval, measures can be taken to stop the virus and help prevent death. Rarely, rabies develops months or years after an animal bite.
Rabies causes more than 55,000 deaths worldwide each year. Most deaths occur in rural areas of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. In the United States, only a few people die each year.