- published: 17 Feb 2016
- views: 2003
Rabies (pronounced /ˈreɪbiːz/. From Latin: rabies, "madness") is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic (i.e., transmissible from animals to humans), most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms. The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death.
The rabies virus travels to the brain by following the peripheral nerves. The incubation period of the disease is usually a few months in humans, depending on the distance the virus must travel to reach the central nervous system. Once the rabies virus reaches the central nervous system and symptoms begin to show, the infection is effectively untreatable and usually fatal within days.
Early-stage symptoms of rabies are malaise, headache and fever, progressing to acute pain, violent movements, uncontrolled excitement, depression, and hydrophobia. Finally, the patient may experience periods of mania and lethargy, eventually leading to coma. The primary cause of death is usually respiratory insufficiency.
Somethin' strange is a'happenin' here
My baby's actin' mighty queer
I picked her up to go to the show
We sat back in the very last row
I went out to buy some coke
And when I got back my courage broke
She was chewin' the seats and her mouth was foamin'
And her hair was in desperate need of a combin'
I think that maybe
My baby's got rabies
Maybe I'm crazy
But maybe my baby's got rabies now
Gotta get me my rifle
Get me my gun
It shore ain't pretty but its gotta be done
She's my baby and I love her so
But she's pulled an Old Yeller and she's got to go
Maybe my baby's got rabies
She's got spring fever and she's out of her head
Maybe my baby's got rabies
And we're gonna have to shoot her out behind the shed