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| ] is one of the few parts of the world where rabies has never been introduced. | ] is one of the few parts of the world where rabies has never been introduced. | ||
| ], which has stringent regulations on the importation of animals, had also been believed to be entirely free from rabies until ] when a single ] was found to be suffering from a rare strain of the disease called "EBL2". There were no more known cases until ] when |
], which has stringent regulations on the importation of animals, had also been believed to be entirely free from rabies until ] when a single ] was found to be suffering from a rare strain of the disease called "EBL2". There were no more known cases until ] when another Daubenton's bat tested positive for EBL2 in ]. A bat conservationist who was bitten by the bat received post exposure treatment and did not develop the rabies. Then in ] David McRae, a conservation worker from ], who was believed to have been bitten by a bat, became the first person to contract rabies in Great Britain since ]. He died from the disease on ] ]. | ||
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Revision as of 21:34, 30 January 2003
Rabies is a very dangerous virus that causes acute encephalitis in animals and people. It can be carried by most species of warm-blooded animal, but it is rare among non-carnivores. The stereotypical image of an infected ("rabid") animal is a "mad dog" foaming at the mouth, but raccoons, chipmunks, foxes and bats also become rabid. Squirrels, other rodents and rabbits are very seldom infected.
Rabies is almost invariably fatal after the symptoms begin.
Transmission and symptoms
The virus is present in the saliva of a rabid animal, and the route of infection is nearly always via a bite. It has never been known to be transmitted from person to person, except during eye surgery. Once the virus has entered the bloodstream it travels to the brain where it incubates. The period between infection and the first flu-like symptoms can be as long as two years, but it is normally 3-12 weeks. Soon after, the symptoms expand to cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, confusion, agitation, progressing to delirium, abnormal behaviour, hallucinations, and insomnia. The production of large quantities of saliva and tears coupled with an inability to speak or swallow are typical during the later stages of the disease; this is known as "hydrophobia". Death almost invariably results 2-10 days after the first symptoms; the handful of people who are known to have survived the disease were all left with severe brain damage.
Prevention
There is no known cure for rabies, but it can be prevented by vaccination. The first rabies vaccination was developed by Louis Pasteur in 1886. Current vaccines are relatively painless and are given in your arm, like a flu or tetanus vaccine.
A treatment known as postexposure prophylaxis ("PEP") is highly successful in preventing the disease if administered promptly after exposure. In the United States, the treatment consists of a regimen of one dose of immunoglobulin and five doses of rabies vaccine over a 28-day period. Rabies immunoglobulin and the first dose of rabies vaccine should be given by your health care provider as soon as possible after exposure. Additional doses or rabies vaccine should be given on days 3, 7, 14, and 28 after the first vaccination.
Prevalence
Rabies is endemic to many parts of the world, and one of the reasons for quarantine periods in international animal transport is to try to keep it out of uninfected regions.
Since the development of effective human vaccines and immunoglobulin treatments the US death rate from rabies has dropped from 100 or more per year early in the 20th century, to 1-2 per year, mostly caused by bat bites.
Australia is one of the few parts of the world where rabies has never been introduced.
Great Britain, which has stringent regulations on the importation of animals, had also been believed to be entirely free from rabies until 1996 when a single Daubenton's bat was found to be suffering from a rare strain of the disease called "EBL2". There were no more known cases until September 2002 when another Daubenton's bat tested positive for EBL2 in Lancashire. A bat conservationist who was bitten by the bat received post exposure treatment and did not develop the rabies. Then in November 2002 David McRae, a conservation worker from Guthrie, Angus, who was believed to have been bitten by a bat, became the first person to contract rabies in Great Britain since 1902. He died from the disease on November 24 2002.
FURTHER READING