no ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



One of the favoi-ite arguments of those who enjoy denying that 

 rabies exists -is that certain keepers of dog ponnds who come in 

 contact with and handle large numbers of stray dogs that are gath- 

 ered up in cities, have been bitten repeatedly but they do not fear 

 rabies and are not attacked by this disease. Of course it is perfectly 

 well known that an animal cannot jjropagate a disease with which 

 it is not itself infected, and before such a statement as the one above 

 cited can be considered to be of any service whatever as an argu- 

 ment in support of the claim that people may not get rabies from 

 the bite of a mad dog, it must be shown that these pound keepers 

 have been bitten by rabid dogs, and upon this point evidence must 

 be conclusive. It is as sensible to take the word of a pound keeper 

 or a kennel keeper upon the question of a diagnosis of rabies in a 

 dog as to take the word of a policeman or hotel keeper upon the 

 question of a diagnosis of a disease of man. As a matter of fact, 

 many people bitten by rabid dogs develop rabies and die of the 

 disease, and this occurs when the question of hysteria or of fright 

 does not enter into the matter. Young children that know nothing 

 of rabies or of any special danger attending the bite of an animal, 

 have died of rabies. This has occurred in Pennsylvania during the 

 past year. People who are misled by the belief that there is no such 

 disease as rabies and whe deny its existence, have died of rabies fol- 

 lowing the bite of a rabid dog, and this has occurred to my knowl- 

 edge in Pennsylvania in recent years. So long as any one who made 

 a diagnosis of rabies in an animal or person was, figuratively, hooted 

 at and held up for ridicule, many known cases of this disease were 

 kept private. But this tendency need exist no longer now^ that it 

 is possible by laboratory means to confirm the diagnosis of rabies 

 and place such, a diagnosis iipon as sound and unassailable footing 

 as a diagnosis of any other disease. 



When the history- of opinion on rabies is written, it will be most 

 interesting to follow, step by step, the evidence of conflict of opinion 

 in regard to the existence and prevalence of this disease. It is most 

 interesting and peculiar that such radical and conflicting views 

 should have prevailed on this subject. It is, however, to be noted, 

 and this point should stand out clearly, that men trained in the la- 

 boratory and in the exporimental study of disease, as well as in 

 clinical or veterinary medicine, are not among those who have 

 denied the existence of the possibility of the ready transmission 

 of rabies. 



Here is a disease in which the virus is present in the saliva; there- 

 fore, it may be propagated by biting. Nearly all animals afflicted 

 with rabies have a tendency to bite, but since this tendency is 

 strongest in the dog, and since the dog, when rabid, has better op- 

 portunities than other domestic animals to roam around the coun- 



