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What does the virus does
Viruses and other germs work by attacking different parts of the body.
For example, a cold virus will attack your nose and make you sneeze and have a runny nose. You might have other symptoms too, like a sore throat. Each virus or germ likes to do certain things depending on what it is.
The rabies virus is a particularly evil virus which does everything it can to kill a dog or a cat. If a human catches rabies they will die unless they get medical help.
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How the virus gets inside a person or an animal
The rabies virus likes to attack nerves. First, the virus has to get to the nerves. Usually rabies gets into the body through a dog or animal bite to find a nerve and start attacking.
Sometimes the virus can get there by going through a mucous membrane where there are nerves close to the surface. A mucous membrane is a moist area, like inside your nose, your lips and your eyes. Viruses attacking there could find their way inside. Luckily it's hard for the rabies virus to get through that way – most of the time it's from an animal bite.
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The rabies virus lives most of the time in saliva. It will actually make the saliva of an animal thick and foamy. You might have heard of ‘foaming at the mouth’ which is an old description of what rabies could look like in an animal that is sick with rabies.
See Symptoms of Rabies.
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The virus moves in
The rabies virus, once it is inside, takes some time to find a nerve to attack. So for a while, the person who is bitten will seem OK.
This is called the incubation period - it gives just the right amount of time the virus needs to make a person sick.
After being exposed to rabies, maybe a human will never get sick. Other times it could take a long time, like weeks, or even months. Sometimes longer. This is why you cannot take chances, and must ALWAYS check with a doctor after an animal bite or scratch.
Once the rabies virus decides to attack, it travels up the nerves to the spinal cord; a giant bundle of nerves coming out from the brain which sends signals all over the body telling it do what the brain wants. Once the virus reaches the spinal cord, it can travel up to the brain, just like following a motorway.
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When animals bite:
If an animal bites you, the saliva from the animal’s mouth could get inside your leg or wherever the bite was.
This is why it is so important to wash out the wound with soap and water, even if it stings.
If the animal was a mammal, you or an adult should find out more about the animal and tell a doctor.
Visit the clinic to find out more about what to do if bitten or scratched by an animal.
If you check our rabies map, you'll see the countries most affected by canine-rabies are in Africa or Asia. The US is an example of one country where rabies is found in the wild animal population and may be transmitted to a dog which hasn't been vaccinated. |
Rabies delivers a surprise attack...
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The rabies virus (right) likes to attack by traveling through the nerves, because most of the time the body doesn't know it's under attack.
In other words, the rabies virus hides from the immune system until it's too late, so it can make its way to the brain.
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This is what makes the rabies virus, such an 'evil genius'. It knows that nerves are usually not checked for germs by the immune system and anything attacking the nerves may not be recognized right away.
Rabies kills dogs, cats and even people at a high rate, because the virus has ‘tricked’ the immune system by hiding. When the immune system finally realizes an enemy is attacking the body, it's too late.
Rabies beats the immune system
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Once the rabies virus reaches the brain, it multiplies and multiplies.
It then travels down through other nerves to come out through the saliva glands. Here more thick saliva is made so rabies (left) can be passed on to others.
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The rabies virus ‘takes over’ the brain too, and can make dogs and other animals act crazy. This is when the animal has to be killed because there’s nothing that can be done. It is too late. (See Symptoms of Rabies).
At least if your dog or cat is vaccinated against rabies (and up-to-date) they will be fine because the vaccines for rabies are very good. Check with your parent or care-giver to make sure your pet is vaccinated against rabies.
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