RABIES FACTS

12 key facts

1. Rabies is caused by a virus (from the genus Lyssavirus) which attacks the nervous system.

2. Almost all human cases (about 98%) are caused by bites from rabies infected domestic dogs, but all mammals can be infected with rabies and all can potentially transmit the virus to humans.

3. Following a dog bite, a victim can suffer months of anxiety, fearing that rabies may develop. Once the horrifying symptoms develop, rabies is invariably fatal.

4. More than 55,000 people die of rabies every year in Africa and Asia.

5. 60-70% of victims of rabies are children aged 5-15; it is estimated that approximately 100 children die of the disease every day.

6. Every rabies death is preventable with the modern cell culture rabies vaccines and rabies immunoglobulins that are currently available.

7. The first rabies vaccination was developed by Louis Pasteur and given to Joseph Meister, boy badly bitten by a rabid dog on July 6, 1885.  Joseph survived and ultimately the Pasteur treatment was used throughout the world to save many potential victims of rabies.  Rabies vaccines were dramatically improved throughout the past century and modern cell culture rabies vaccines are virtually 100% effective to prevent rabies.

8. Rabies can be effectively controlled in animal populations through vaccination. When 70% of the dog population is vaccinated, human cases are dramatically reduced or even eliminated.

9. Wildlife populations can be threatened by rabies to the point of extinction. The rare Ethiopian wolf and the African wild dog are just 2 examples.

10. In Mexico, after 5 years of a nationwide dog vaccination campaign, the number of human rabies deaths was reduced from 60 per year to less than 20. Subsequently, human cases have been almost eliminated throughout the country.

11. Rabies is known as "la rage" in French, "tollwut" in German, "rabia" in Spanish, "rabbia" in Italian, "kichaa cha mwba" in Swahili.

12. In 2005, Jeanna Giese, a girl of 15 survived acute, unvaccinated rabies; watch her give her side of the story as part of World Rabies Day activities in 2007.  She is the only person in the world to have survived acute, unvaccinated rabies.