SECTION IV 



EXANTHEMATA AND DISEASES CAUSED 

 BY FILTRABLE VIRUS 



CHAPTER XLVII 



RABIES 

 (Hydrophobia, Rage, Lyssa, Hundswutk) 



RABIES is primarily a disease of animals, infectious for practically 

 all the mammalia, but most prevalent among carnivora, dogs, cats, and 

 wolves. It is said also to occur spontaneously among skunks of the 

 Southwestern United States, and is readily inoculable upon guinea-pigs, 

 rabbits, mice, rats, and certain birds, chicken and geese being especially 

 susceptible. Man is subject to the disease. Infection usually occurs as 

 a consequence of the saliva of rabid animals gaining entrance to wounds 

 from bites or scratches. The disease is prevalent to an alarming extent 

 in all civilized countries except England, where the careful supervision of 

 dogs, enforcement of muzzling laws, and rigid legislation regarding the 

 importation of dogs, have caused a practical eradication of the disease 

 in that country. A fair estimate of the prevalence of the disease may 

 be obtained from the statistics of animals dying or killed because of 

 rabies in different countries. In Germany, according to Kolle and 

 Hetsch, during the 15 years ending in 1901, there were 9,069 dogs, 1,664 

 cattle, 191 sheep, 110 horses, 175 hogs, 79 cats, 16 goats, 1 mule, and 1 

 fox affected with rabies. In eastern United States the disease is not un- 

 common. The statistics of the New York Department of Health, for a 

 period of six months ending Dec. 31, 1907, show 74 cases of rabies among 

 dogs in New York City and vicinity. Among human beings the disease 

 is no longer common in civilized countries, since early preventive treat- 

 ment is successfully applied in almost all infected subjects. 



Experimental infection in susceptible animals is best carried out by 

 injections of a salt-solution emulsion of the brain or spinal cord of an 



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