Preventing Rabies in "Old Yeller"

One of my favorite movies is "Old Yeller". It is a story about a boy and his dog in post-Civil war Texas (late 1860's). In protecting his boy the dog "Yeller" is infected by the Rabies virus. Unfortunately, back then no rabies vaccine existed for dogs. Toward the end of the movie the poor boy has to destroy his canine friend and protector. In fact it wasn't until the late 1880's that Louis Pasteur devised the first rabies vaccine.

Rabies is one of the oldest and most feared diseases. It was first described in a Mesopotamian tract dating 1800 B.C.. Back then the disease was called by the ancient Greeks as lyssa, meaning "frenzy". The Romans adapted it with a Latin word that meant "to rage" giving the disease its name: rabies. For 38 or more centuries the cry of "mad dog" was known as a warning to run for your life. Mad dogs oftentimes had rabies and a bite or scratch from one would mean almost certain death.

The Rabies virus attacks the nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. Depending on where the person is bitten it can take from 20-60 days for symptoms to occur. The farther from the brain the bite occurs the longer it takes for symptoms to occur. The virus destroys the nerves in the spinal cord causing paralysis and mental delusions. A person with rabies is eventually unable to swallow properly and as a result develops a fear of water. Hydrophobia is another name for rabies. Eventually, the virus destroys the part of the brain that controls breathing and the person dies. Only 3 people have ever survived rabies once symptoms of the viral infection begin. Many people have been sucessfully treated to prevent the virus from destroying the person's nervous system. Therefore, in this disease prevention is key to avoiding rabies infections and disease.

Rabies can infect almost all mammals. The virus also attacks their nerve cells causing them to act in very unusually and aggressive ways. Domesticated cats, dogs, cattle, horses, mules, sheep, goats, pigs, and ferrets can all get rabies and give it to humans. Wild animals including skunks, bats, and racoons can also get rabies and give it to humans. Human rabies is very rare. About 50,000 human rabies cases are reported each year in the world. Only 30 human rabies cases have been reported in the United States since 1990. There are a number of reasons human rabies is so rare.

In the late 1880's Louis Pasteur developed a vaccine that was used in the treatment of people attacked by rabid animals. Unfortunately, this

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