What happens when an infected animal bites a person or another animal?
Virus in the infected animal’s saliva enters the victim’s tissues during a bite. The virus attaches to the local muscle cells for a few days before penetrating local nerves and beginning its slow ascent to the brain. Once in nervous tissue, the virus is not accessible to the body’s immune system and will proceed unchecked to the brain. This journey is slow, taking up to one year (the average time between bite and detectable virus in the brain is 20 to 30 days). The virus ultimately reaches the brain and two to three days later is evident in all body secretions, including saliva. At this point, the disease becomes transmissible and symptoms begin. What are the signs of the disease? While it may take a long time for the virus to incubate, once even mild symptoms begin, death occurs within 10 days. There is no treatment for animals or humans once clinical signs appear. Clinical signs progress through multiple stages (animals may sometimes skip either the excitative or the paralytic stage)
