Rabies Paul R. Earl Facultad de Ciencias Biol

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RabiesPaul R. EarlFacultad de Ciencias
BiológicasUniversidad Autónoma de Nuevo LeónSan
Nicolás, NL, Mexico pearl_at_dsi.uanl.mx
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Rabies is a wellknown and dreaded fatal infection
caused when the rabies virus invades the central
nervous system (CNS). . Rabies virus belongs to
the order Mononegavirales, viruses with a
nonsegmented, negative-stranded RNA genomes. This
bullet-shaped RNA virus belongs to the genus
Lyssavirus of the Rhabdoviridae. Rabies involves
the CNS, causing acute encephalomyelitis
(inflammation of the brain and spinal cord),
severe clinical and neurologic signs, and
disruption of normal functions.
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Pasteur treatment. On an afternoon about
630, a rather tough-looking guy came into the
lab and sat down without speaking. After awhile,
I said, Well Verne, what happened? I cut
myself on a tube. He was working on rabies in
cell culture. Are you going to take the Pasteur
treatment? No. Luckily nothing happened.
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The idea is that killed rabies vaccine, sometimes
as 14 painful shots, will elicit antibodies which
will kill the natural infecting virus before that
virus can invade nerves. If nervous tissue is
invaded, the patient will die. Today the Pasteur
treatment is sometimes called POST-EXPOSURE
PROPHYLAXIS !
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The roles of Edward Jenner with cowpox prevention
of smallpox and Louis Pasteur aided by Emile Roux
with killed rabies rabbit brain vaccine are too
wellknown to recite here. The Pasteur treatment
changed the entire world.
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On July 6, 1885, 9-year old Joseph Meister and
his mother appeared at Pasteur's laboratory. Two
days before the boy had been bitten repeatedly by
a rabid dog. He was so badly mauled he could
hardly walk. With much trepidation, Pasteur
treated the youth. Despite Pasteur's fears,
Meister made a perfect recovery. Later another
victim who was a young shepherd also bitten by a
mad dog. Following his successes, Pasteur
received tumultuous acclaim. He became a hero and
a legend.
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Thousands and thousands attended Pasteurs
funeral.
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Symptoms. Without the bite as a guide to
symptoms, rabies cannot be diagnosed, and even
with the bite little indeed can be done. Initial
symptoms include a) restlessness, b) shortterm
depression, c) abnormal sensation, such as
itching, tingling or numbness radiating from the
bite, d) headache, e) fever, f) lethargy, g)
nausea, h) sore throat, i) loss of appetite, j)
muscle stiffness, k) pupil dilation, l) increased
saliva production, and m) unusual sensitivity to
sound, light, and temperature.
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Epidemiologic distribution, mainly in
the US. Important vectors like raccoons and
foxes may be hardly noticed, whereas thanks to
Hollywood bats and madness are sometimes
stressed. Maps are largely thanks to the US
Communicable Disease Center (CDC), because they
have the best kept data. The actual world
database demands renewed efforts, e. g., rabies
virus strain per animal host, use of oral vaccine
baits for wildlife mammals, etc.
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Are bats in California, Texas and New England
accounting for most human rabies there? In the
US, these are insect-eating bats. Infection by
bats is underinvestigated.
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Managment of animals that bite humans.

a) A healthy dog, cat or ferret that bites
a person should be confined and observed daily
for 10 days. Do not administer rabies vaccine in
the observation period. Such animals should be
evaluated by a veterinarian at the first sign of
illness during confinement. Any illness in the
animal should be reported immediately to the
local health department. If signs suggestive of
rabies develop, the animal should be euthanatized
and the head shipped for testing. Any stray or
unwanted dog, cat, or ferret that bites a person
may be euthanatized immediately and the head
submitted examination.
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Current vaccines. These are TRIMUNE, Fort
Dodge Animal Health, DEFENSOR 1, Pfizer, Inc.,
DEFENSOR 3, Pfizer, Inc., RABDOMUN, Pfizer, Inc.,
RABDOMUN 1, Pfizer, Inc., RABVAC 3, Fort Dodge
Animal Health, PRORAB-1, Intervet, Inc.,
PRORAB-3F, Intervet, Inc., IMRAB 3, Merial, Inc.,
and IMRAB IMRAB 3 TF Large Animal Merial, Inc.,
and IMRAB 1, Merial, Inc.
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Virus structure. Rhabdoviruses are
about 180 nm x 75 nm. The rabies genome encodes 5
proteins 1/ nucleoprotein (N), 2/ phosphoprotein
(P), 3/ matrix protein (M), 4/ glycoprotein (G)
and 5/ polymerase (L). All rhabdoviruses are have
2 major structural components 1/ a helical
ribonucleoprotein core (RNP) and 2/ a surrounding
envelope. In the RNP, genomic RNA is tightly
encased by the nucleoprotein.
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Overview of rabies. Many diseases are shared
by man, his domestic animals and wildlife, rabies
of course being one of this multitude. Actually,
the risk of rabies is very low and would rise
only by public health neglect. Countries like
India still have some human deaths. Wildlife is
underinvestigated. Successful reduction of virus
prevalence by oral vaccine baits is fully
convincing as Europe is now practically free
ofrabies.
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The Pasteur treatment is practiced more around
the globe. The use of highly purified cheap horse
immunoglobulins provide a solution to the current
problems of insufficient quantities and the high
cost of human immunoglobulin.