Rabies is a virus that is transferred through animals that give birth to live young (mammals).
Once it enters the body it attaches to a nerve, multiplies, and travels through the central
nervous system up to the brain.
The first symptoms of rabies are often very vague (headaches, high temperature, depression,
flu-like symptoms) and it can be easy to mistake them for other types of infection. Once the
virus reaches the brain, the fatal symptoms start, and by then it is too late and there is no
cure.
There are two types of rabies;
• Furious rabies – aggressive behaviours, including thrashing and biting, hallucinations and
delusions, very high temperature and sweating, hydrophobia, excessive salivation and
insomnia.
• Paralytic rabies – muscle weakness, loss of sensation, and paralysis.
Rabies is a fatal disease, but it is 100% preventable if treated straight away. If it goes
untreated it will lead to the person falling into a coma and eventually dying from heart or
lung failure.
Rabies is transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal, and can be transferred to
humans through:
1)
Biting.
2)
Licking – saliva on open wounds.
3)
Scratching – anything that causes the skin to become red and raised.
It is very important to follow these first aid steps if you are exposed to an animal that you
think might have rabies.
1) Wash the wound with soap and running water for 15 minutes.
2) Apply an antiseptic (Dettol, iodine, betadine) and let the wound dry. DO NOT cover the
wound. If the wound is covered it is more likely to get infected.
3) Report the dog to the government veterinary laboratory, to receive a certificate and go to
the hospital for treatment.
4) Go to the hospital and receive 5 injections on days 0 (day of infection), 3, 7, 14, and 28.
You must remember to take the full course of 5 injections.
Rabies is much harder to diagnose in animals. The only way to know for sure if a dog has
rabies is by taking a brain sample after it dies.
An animal that is ill with rabies may show;
• Furious symptoms – unusual restlessness, snapping at invisible objects, aimless running,
biting, excessive salivation, unprovoked aggressiveness, un-coordinated movements and
paralysis.
• Paralytic symptoms – profuse salivation, dropping of the lower jaw, inability to swallow.
Do not approach the animal, try to restrain it, or try to harm it. This is very dangerous. Call
our Rabies Hotline number immediately and one of our staff members will come to collect
the dog. Make sure you remember their location, what they look like, and their behaviour.
Children should not fear dogs, especially if the dogs are friendly and relaxed. It is important
that children should wait for a dog to approach them. If they have a relaxed posture and are
wagging their tail, they can be petted gently.
Aggression is part of any animal’s communication, including humans. You only need to be
cautious of a dog if it is growling, has tense posture, and bared teeth as they are warning you
that they are angry and that they might bite.
Dogs can spread this disease from one dog to another within the dog population as well as to
humans. Dogs are responsible for 99% of rabies cases in humans because of their close
proximity and relationship to humans. It is important to remember that not all dogs have
rabies, but all dog bites should be treated unless you know the dog has been rabies
vaccinated in the last year.
Vaccinating humans is very costly and it requires three injections over a period of one month.
Already vaccinated people are still not 100% protected from rabies and would need to get
two vaccinations after exposure to a rabid animal. Vaccinating dogs is the quickest and
fastest way to protect people and to stop the virus at the source. A dog only requires one
vaccine, and it is protected for an entire year.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends vaccinating 70% of the dogs in a
community. This makes it is more difficult for the rabies virus to spread to dogs that have not
been vaccinated in an area.
This vaccine is safe for dogs of all ages, as well as pregnant females. The vaccine we use is
an internationally recognised brand (MSD Animal Health) which has been widely tested for
safety. The risk of side effects are very low. Although this vaccine protects dogs against
rabies, it does not protect dogs from other diseases or illnesses which could cause death.
Killing of dogs will not prevent the spread of rabies. Once dogs in a community are killed, the
population is quickly replaced with other dogs from other areas close by, as well as new
puppies being born, which could be infected with rabies.
The World Health Organisation recommends Animal Birth Control surgery (also called
neutering and sterilisation) as the best way to reduce dog populations, and aid in rabies
control.
Animal Birth Control surgery helps dogs (both male and female) live longer, happier, and
healthier lives. Male dogs stay closer to home because they are not constantly searching for
females to mate with, and get into less fights with other male dogs for female attention.
Female dogs are healthier as they do not have give birth to puppies every breeding cycle.
Puppies are exhausting to take care of, and it puts a lot of pressure on the mother’s health,
which means that some puppies and often the mother may end up dying of starvation or
lack of nutrition.
Dogs are also protected from sexually transmitted infections if they undergo Animal Birth
Control (ABC) surgery.
Canine transmittable venereal tumours (CTVT) is a very common sexually transmitted
infection in Malawi, and it results in large tumours and open wounds around the genital
areas of dogs. This can sometimes be fatal. CTVT is not transmissible to people.
CTVT is a transmissible cancer that is spread by the transfer of living cancer cells between
dogs, usually during mating and is more associated amongst free roaming dogs. CTVT can
also be transferred by licking, sniffing, parturition (giving birth) and other direct contact.
The photographs show the surgical removal of CTVT by WVS veterinary surgeons at the
BSPCA in Blantyre, Malawi. Dependant on the stage of CTVT the removal of CTVT is also
accompanied by chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
http://www.missionrabies.com/resources
http://www.who.int/rabies
http://www.oie.int/animal-health-in-the-world/rabies-portal/