The Deadly Animal Virus- Rabies.
It has become common knowledge that, once a dog with rabies bite's someone, it often results in death, but there is so much to rabies than this popular statement, and that is what I will be exploring through this write-up.
Rabies: This is a viral infection that spreads through the bite of an infected animal, usually secreted in the saliva, it is transmitted to either animals or humans through a bite of an infected animal. Unlike what we believe, dogs are not the only type of animal affected by rabies, as they also affect, cats, raccoons, bats, coyotes and even foxes, as a matter of fact, every mammal stands a chance of developing rabies. According to research, bats are the major source for human rabies death in America. Ref Transmission could occur when the saliva of an infected animal gets in direct contact with human mucosa or gets in contact with fresh wounds, there are cases of contracting rabies through inhalation of the virus, but that is an extremely rare case. Rabies can also be spread through the consumption of infected raw animal meat or even milk.
commons.wikimedia.org
Once the virus rabies, gets into the body, it begins to move along the path of the nerves into the brain, the most common sign of rabies are unexplained paralysis and behavioral changes.
Rabies in animals cannot just be determined by merely staring at the animal, only an appropriate laboratory test will clearly tell the presence of rabies in animals. Some animals with rabies, may begin to display strange actions, your pet may all of a sudden begin to attack you or try to bite other animals, but not every animal affected with rabies shows sign of attack, some animals may not even appear sick even while they have this virus.
The clinical manifestation of rabies include changes to normal behavior like;
- Vocal changes like hoarse barking or not even been able to produce any type of sound.
- Eating abnormal items like; faeces, sticks etc.
- Biting without any provocation.
- Excessive salivation from the mouth.
The best way to prevent your dog from getting the virus is to, ensure that your pet receives regular rabies vaccination, keep your pet away from wild animals, get officials to take out stray animals from your surrounding.
jenikirbyhistory.getarchive
Once rabies virus gets into the human body, it travels through the nerves unto the brain, it is a serious virus affecting up to around 59,000 persons in a year. The incubation stage of rabies lasts for 2-3 months, at the early stage, symptoms like fever, pain, burning sensation at the central nervous system. The disease occurs in two stages;
Furious Rabies: Is the most common type of rabies, leading to around 80% of human cases, giving signs of hyperactivity, extreme salivation and even coma and death by cardio-respiratory arrest.
Paralytic Rabies: This is a less likely form of rabies to happen, usually lasts for a longer period, but less dramatic unlike furious rabies. In this case, there is an experienced flaccid muscle weakness at the early stage of the infection, starting right after the bite, it proceeds with paralysis, then the patient may go into coma and eventual death.
Can rabies be controlled.
One of the very first way to prevent the spread of the virus is, by getting your pet vaccinated, ensure that, your pet gets vaccinated from time to time.
Limits the exposure of your dogs, especially to stray animals.
Do not leave your pet food exposed in the public.
Observe wild animals from a distance, instruct kids never to touch unknown animals, even if they appear friendly.
Creating awareness about rabies and dog bite prevention is really important, training dog owners on the need for rabies prevention and how they can protect their dogs is really important.
When your dog has attacked and bitten someone;
Inform the patient to get to the nearest hospital for treatment, check with your vet doctor to confirm if your pet's vaccination is intact, you may need to submit to the vet for close observation. In a case when it is your pet that has been affected, get the pet to the vet instantly, immediate re-vaccination should be done on the pet even if the vaccination is up-to-date.
Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)
PEP refers to the immediate treatment following a bite after a suspected rabies exposure, this procedure prevents the virus from getting into the central nervous system, which could possibly lead to death.
Instantly, washing and treating the wound locally after the suspected infected bite, is a smart move to make. Wash the bite region with soap and water for about 15 minutes. After this procedure, ensure you get the vaccine as soon as you can.
The animal with the virus, should be removed from the community for either quarantine and observation (that is, if it is a healthy pet), or submitted for laboratory examination. During treatment, once it is clear that the animal is free from rabies, every treatment should be discontinued.
This write-up serves as an eye-opener. it helps one to know that rabies cannot be contracted from a dog bite alone. in other words, we have other animals like cats, bats, etc that can infect one with rabies. Especially the deadly rabies virus contracted from bats.
Yes @sumptous, there are other animals that can cause rabies infection, appreciate your time.
Thanks for your contribution to the STEMsocial community. Feel free to join us on discord to get to know the rest of us!
Please consider delegating to the @stemsocial account (85% of the curation rewards are returned).
Thanks for including @stemsocial as a beneficiary, which gives you stronger support.
It's very scary to be bitten by an animal that has a rabies virus and as a pet owner, antirabies vaccines are very helpful ensuring my pet and I are safe. This is a useful reference to those people who have a little knowledge about rabies.
Thanks, @dennnmare, every pet owner must ensure that their pets gets antirabies vaccine, it is extremely important.