My gardener was recently bitten by an unvaccinated stray dog. Since then he has been feeling drowsy and weak. I want to know if this is a case of rabies or not.
Bamidele (by SMS)
Rabies is a viral zoonotic disease that causes progressive and fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. Early symptoms of a rabies infection can include a fever with pain and unusual or unexplained tingling, pricking or burning sensation (paraesthesia) at the wound site. In later states, the virus spreads to the Central Nervous System (CNS) causing fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. Therefore, your Gardener’s complaints could be part of the CNS affectation. It would therefore be very important for him to seek proper medical attention. The incubation period of the disease can vary from 1 week to 1 year, though it is typically 2–3 months. Although fatal once clinical signs appear, rabies is entirely avoidable; vaccines, medicines and technologies have long been available to prevent death from rabies. Nevertheless, rabies still kills tens of thousands of people each year. Of these cases, approximately 99% are acquired from the bite of an infected dog. Dog-mediated human rabies can be eliminated by tackling the disease at its source: infected dogs. Making people aware of how to avoid the bites of rabid dogs, to seek treatment when bitten and to vaccinate animals can successfully disrupt the rabies transmission cycle.
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