COMMUNICABLE

DISEASE
Report: Rabies
Wendy Blount, DVM

By: Lemuel M. Guevarra

8/22/19
Background of The Disease
Rabies
Rabies
Rabies
Rabies
 Rabies
• Rabies virus causes an acute encephalitis
(inflammation of the brain) in all warm-
blooded hosts.
• Rabies is not, in the natural sense, a
disease of humans.
• The impact of rabies on public health
includes an estimate of the animal
population that is affected and the steps
involved in preventing transmission of rabies
from animals to humans.
• Raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes, and
several species of insectivorous bats have
been identified as reservoirs for the disease.
Rabies
Distribution
Ditribution
Ditribution
Infectious Agent
 Physiology
• Genome encodes 5 proteins:
– Nucleoprotein- encases RNA
– Phosphoprotein- associated with ribonuceoprotein core
– Matrix protein- central protein of rhabdovirus assembly
– Glycoprotein- forms 400 trimeric spikes
– Polymerase- transcribes genomic strand of rabies RNA
 Virulence
• Depends on severity of bite
• If treatment is given and when
• Once the disease manifests in CNS:
ultimate death
 Pathogenicity
• Defined by encephalitis and myelitis
• Perivascular infiltration throughout entire
central nervous system
• Causes cytoplasmic eosinophilic inclusion
bodies (Negri bodies) in neuronal cells
• Several factors may affect outcome of
rabies exposure.
– Rabies variant
– Dose
– Route
– Location of exposure
– Individual host factors
Infectious Agent
 Transmission

• Begins when infected saliva of host is

passed to uninfected animal.
• Scratches
• Bites
 Discharge and Intermediate
Hosts
• Infection of new host via saliva
• Death of host
• Wild rabid animals may infect domestic
animals/people
– Cattle, horses, pigs, dogs, cats
– Humans
• Rabid domestic animals may infect
humans
 Vehicles of Transmission
• Saliva
• Mucous membranes
• Aerosol transmission
• Corneal transplantations
 Rabies
• Incubation:
– 2 weeks to years
• 1-5 weeks is most common***
– Why is rabies quarantine only 10 days?
– The closer the bite to the brain, the shorter
the incubation
– Rabies virus travels 1 cm per day
• Diagnosis:
– brain biopsy (usually after death)
– Negri Bodies (virus particles) are found
– There also is a saliva test which is inaccurate
 Rabies
• Symptoms: neurologic
– Early signs are non-specific
• Fever, headache, weakness, achy muscles
– Incoordination, confusion, strange behavior
• Attacking and biting moving and stationary
objects
– Salivation (can’t swallow, like choking)
– Fear of water (hydrophobia)
– Paralysis
– Seizures
– Death within 2 weeks of showing signs
 Rabies
• Transmission:
– Spread by bites or contact of infected
saliva with mucous membranes (eyes,
mouth, etc)
– Saliva becomes non-infectious when it
dries
– Also transmitted by contact with nervous
tissue
– People have been infected by aerosol in
bat caves
 Rabies
• Transmission:
– Disinfectants that kill rabies virus:
• Formalin
• Phenols (Lysol)
• Halogens (bleach)
• Quats
• UV light (sunlight) and heat
Epidemiology
Epidemiology
Diagnosis
Methods of Control
Methods of Control
Methods of Control
Methods of Control
Methods of Control
Methods of Control
Methods of Control
Methods of Control
Methods of Control
Methods of Control
Methods of Control
References