| RABIES |
|
About the Disease
The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, causing encephalopathy (a dysfunction of the brain) and eventually death. All warm-blooded animals, including humans, are susceptible.
Mississippi has had only one case of human rabies since 1953. The only animal to be found rabid in the state since 1963 is the bat. In 1999, two bats, one from Marshall County and one from Rankin County, tested positive for rabies. In 2001, four bats were positive for rabies.
Rabid raccoons from Alabama are the cause of Mississippi's greatest threat. In 1997 in Mobile County, Alabama reported the first rabid raccoon close to the Mississippi border. The state of Alabama has found six additional rabid raccoons over the past five years. | | |
| AT A GLANCE |
 |
What it is: Rabies is a viral disease that can affect all warm-blooded animals, including humans. The disease infects the central nervous system, usually ultimately causing death. Domestic animals account for less than 10 percent of the reported cases of rabies. |
|
Transmission: The rabies virus is usually transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal. This normally occurs in the case of a bite. Wild animals serve as the primary carriers of rabies to non-human animals, but humans get the disease mainly through bats and domestic animals. |
|
Symptoms: The first symptoms of rabies may be flu-like, and may include a feeling of general tiredness, fever and headache.
There may also be discomfort, numbness, prickling or tingling at the site of the bite. Within days, the patient will start to have symptoms of brain dysfunction, including anxiety, confusion, agitation, delirium, abnormal behavior, hallucinations and insomnia.
At this point, the disease is almost always fatal. |
|
Prevention: N/A |
|
Treatment: If you are exposed to rabies, your health care provider should give you one dose of rabies immune globulin and five doses of rabies vaccine over at 28-day period. | |
^ Top | |
| LINKS |
Laboratory information
|
Other web sites
|
^ Top | |
| CONTACT |
|
Find out more
You can also contact your local health office, or call our Health Info Hotline at 1-866-HLTHY4U (1-866-458-4948).
^ Top | | | |
