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Prevention of Communicable Disease: Rabies

Rabies (Hydrophobia). This is a specific communicable disease which affects chiefly the canine race, although all warm-blooded animals, including man, are susceptible to it. There is a widely prevalent belief that if persons or animals are bitten by a dog they are liable to become rabid if the dog should contract the disease at any future time. It will be a great comfort to many persons who have been bitten by animals to know that there is no foundation for this impression. Rabies is transmitted only by animals that are actually diseased at the time the bite is inflicted. Every animal or person bitten does not necessarily develop the disease. This depends on the location and size of the wound, the flow of blood produced and other conditions.

The nearer the bite is located to the central nervous system and the deeper it is, the greater danger of a fatal result. Rabies is believed to be caused by a specific germ but this has not yet been identified.

Symptoms. There are two types of rabies: (1) the furious, violent or irritable; (2) the dumb or paralytic. Cases of furious rabies in a dog usually develop between three weeks and three months after the animal has been infected. A marked change in the disposition of the animal should arouse suspicion. An affectionate dog may become morose PREVENTION OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASE a nervous and depressed. A snappy, treacherous dog may become mild or affectionate. Then comes an irresistible tendency to roam. A dog will fight or bite at any restraint which interferes with its freedom. He may roam about for several days, aimlessly, in and irritable condition.

He tends to eat or chew indigestible objects such as rags, leather, straw, feathers, sticks and the like. He becomes unable to swallow and his saliva becomes frothy from constant champing of the jaws. But foaming at the mouth is not a reliable symptom, nor is fear of water, since rabid dogs sometimes swim streams. When tired of roving a dog tends to return home and hide in some secluded place.

Paralysis of the throat sets in early. This changes the normal bark of the affected dog to a long, resonant, peculiarly drawn-out cry, like the yelp of a coyote. Later the paralysis extends to the muscles of the jaw. This causes the lower jaw to drop and the tongue to hang out, collect dirt and appear dry and black in color. The pupil of the eye dilates, the paralysis extends to the hind legs and the dumb form of the disease results. Death follows in from four to eight days after development of the first symptoms. The dumb or paralytic form of rabies in the dog is much more infrequent. The dog is depressed and seeks quiet spots in which to hide.

The first symptom observable is often paralysis of the lower jaw, suggesting that the animal may have a bone in its throat. Paralysis quickly progresses and death results in from one to three days.

Rabies in Cattle. -The symptoms are similar to those of the dog.

There is loss of appetite, stoppage of the secretion of milk, great restlessness, anxiety, manifestation of fear and change in the disposition of the animal. Then comes excitation or madness, loud bellowing, violent butting, with an insane desire to attack other animals and sometimes the desire to bite. The paralysis progresses rapidly with loss of flesh and finally the animal lies in a comatose condition and dies, usually in from four to six days. The temperature remains normal or even sub-normal. Rabies in Cats. - The animal hides in a dark corner and dies unobserved in the course of a day or two, or becomes violent and suddenly attacks animals or persons, especially children. The cat loses its voice or mews hoarsely. It becomes emaciated and succumbs within a few days.

Other animals as horses, sheep, goats, hogs, chickens and wild animals exhibit much the same symptoms. Rabies appear to be spreading, but can be readily controlled by proper local regulations for licensing and muzzling dogs, since the disease is almost always spread to other animals by dogs. As many as sixteen persons have been bitten by a single small dog, which also wounded a great many other animals.

Treatment for Rabies. - Any wound made by a dog or other animal showing symptoms of rabies should be promptly cauterized. Go to a doctor or drug store, if there is one at hand. Otherwise cauterize the wound with nitric acid, carbolic acid Or or if necessary red-hot iron. tincture of iodine may be used, if nothing better is at hand. The best agent is nitric acid. Carry this on a swab or glass rod to every recess and part of the wound. Carbolic acid and other acids are less efficient; nitrate of silver is useless. A red-hot iron is not as effective as a suitable acid, is very painful and makes a wound more severe than is necessary.

Great care must be observed when using strong acids or red-hot iron about the face. Children or very nervous subjects should preferably be put under an anæsthetic before the cautery is used.

Capture the suspected animal alive, if possible, by means of a lasso or net, or by turning a box or barrel over it. Or snare it by means of a loop of stout cord on the end of a pole. Put the animal into a stout box or pen but take care not to injure or mistreat it, or deprive it of food and water. If it remains alive and well for ten days there is no danger of rabies. But if it dies or the symptoms become unmistakable, send the head to the nearest laboratory for examination. In killing an animal suspected of rabies avoid shooting through the head or beating on the head. This may interfere with a proper examination. Shoot the animal through the back or behind the shoulders. Cut off the head close to the shoulders, wrap it in a cloth wrung out of a standard solution of bichloride of mercury (1:500), place it in a new tin pail with a tight-fitting cover and pack the pail in a larger bucket or box surrounded by ice. Ship by express to the laboratory and notify the director by telegram of the shipment.

Should the investigation show the existence of rabies, the only method of treatment which offers any protection is immunization by the Pasteur vaccine. This requires about three weeks and usually demands attendance at a hospital or sanitarium, but may be given by any competent physician. The Pasteur treatment, if given in time, is almost always successful. The proportion of failures is less than 1 per cent, whereas from 10 per cent to 15 per cent of untreated persons who have been bitten by rabid animals develop the disease.