Rabies

Lecture 6
Dr. Paul Bartlett, MPH., DVM., Ph.D.
 Transmission
 The virus is typically transmitted by being
deposited under the skin, usually through a bite
wound.
 Contamination of a pre-existing wound is possible
but unlikely because the local inflammatory
reaction which follows a wound, quickly seals the
comprised skin and prevents entry of the virus.
 Transmission across mucous membranes is also
possible, but less likely than a bite wound.
Aberrant Routes of Transmission
 A small number of human rabies cases have been
reported following corneal transplants.
– This suggests that human rabies cases may be
underreported.
 Aerosol (airborne) transmission of the virus has
also been reported. However, this is possible only
under unusual circumstances.
– Persons have contracted rabies presumably by airborne
transmission after visiting bat caves (Frio Cave, Texas.)
Survivability of the Rabies Virus
 The rabies virus is extremely short lived
under most environmental conditions.
– It is easily inactivated by heat and drying.
– Capable of surviving for a few days in cold
temperatures.
 Thorough and immediate washing of bite
wounds with plenty of soap and water is
the best preventative treatment for rabies
 Course of a Rabies Infection
 Once introduced, the rabies virus travels
retrograde up the nerves to the spinal cord -
eventually reaching the brain.
 From the brain, the virus spreads to the
salivary glands.
 The incubation period is usually 6 to 8
weeks in humans but it may be longer.
 Viral Spreading in Animals
 In cats and dogs, the clinical symptoms usually
begin before the virus is found in the saliva.
– Sometimes virus can be found one to three days before
clinical symptoms in cats and three to five days in dogs.
Ferrets is something < 10 days.
 No reliable information regarding the appearance
of virus in the saliva is available for other animal
species .
– There is some evidence that certain wildlife species,
like skunks and bats, may excrete virus in their saliva
for long periods before becoming ill.
 Terrestrial Reservoirs of Rabies
 Different terrestrial (non-bat) mammalian species
are the rabies reservoirs in different parts of the
country.
– Strains in the USA include - skunk, raccoon, fox, and
coyote.
– For a given strain, only transmission within the host
species is sufficiently successful to maintain the disease
from year to year.
 This was observed before monoclonal antibody
testing revealed that distinctly different strains of
the virus were involved.
Have virus: CNS fluid, saliva, nervous tissue

Don’t have virus: milk, urine, feces, muscle

Dumb
Rabies?
Furious Rabies?
Cases of Animal Rabies, 1955-2000
Total Domestic Wild
Rabies in Wild Animals, 1955-2000
Rabies in Wild Animals by Month, 2000
 Distribution of Major Terrestrial Reservoirs
of Rabies in the United States

Skunk
Raccoon
Skunk

Skunk

Fox
Fox

Fox Coyote
 Skunks, 2000

N=2223

1 Case 15 Cases 30 Cases

 Changes from 1999 to 2000
Increase Decrease
1 CASE
15 CASES
30 CASES